Week 7 Communal Discussion: June 21st

This Sunday at Northbridge the findings from the previous’ weeks criteria survey were presented for review and discussion.

Joyce, Alicia, and Shane presented these findings as well as certain implications that arose from the surveys results.

Some of the basics about the survey were presented first including the following information:

1. Responses came in either through the survey taken Sunday, June 14th at church or via email.
2. Individuals were asked to respond to 9 criteria questions with multiple choice answers.
3. Responses were received from 75% of current NB households.
4. Responses were received from 70% of current NB individuals.
5. Response points were given a value of 1, 0.5, or 0.3 depending on if respondents gave one or more responses for each questions.

Here were the results of the survey that were shared and the basic implications from each finding below:

1. What level of commitment do you have in Northbridge continuing as a faith community with:
A: an activistic, outreach oriented primary focus?   

• High (46%), Medium (33%), or Low (21%)
  

B: a dialogue, support group primary focus?               

• High (23%), Medium (35%), or Low (23%), No Preference (19%)

-Implication: being both a missional and support community is important to the majority of Northbridge individuals.

2. How far are you willing to drive to Northbridge?

• 10 minutes (0%), 20 minutes (64%), over 30 minutes (36%)

-Implication: driving distance is not as important of a factor as others.

3. How often are you willing to come to the main gathering (Sundays mornings right now) per month?

• Weekly (81%), Every Other Week (19%), Occasionally (0%)

-Implication: meeting weekly for the main gatherings is still preferred.

4. How often are you willing to come outside of Sunday morning gatherings (study group, outings, service activities, etc.)?

• Weekly (10%), Every Other Week (60%), Occasionally (27%), No Preference (3%)

-Implication: attending every other week or occasionally is preferred outside the main gatherings.

5. What times of the day and week would you be open to meeting for the main gathering (mark all that apply for you)?

• Saturday Evening (19%), Sunday Morning (57%), Sunday Evening (21%)

-Implication: meeting on Sunday mornings is still the preferred option for the main gathering.

6. What type of locations would you:

• oppose meeting in: No Preference (58%), Houses (42%)
• like to meet in: No Preference (46%), Church (21%), Community Center (25%), Houses (8%)

-Implication: meeting in house isn’t preferred by many people but meeting in a community center or a church is.

7. What percentage of time of the main gathering time (Sunday morning right now) would you like devoted to:

• teaching/education (receiving):                          30% (50%), 60% (39%)
• spiritual practices/dialogue (participation):  30% (31%), 60% (62%)

-Implication: NB would like to become more participatory on Sunday mornings while still keeping some aspect of receiving in place.

8. What level of commitment do you have in addressing children’s spiritual development:

• High (69%), Medium (27%), or Low (4%)

-Implication: children’s spiritual development continues to be a primary concern for the individuals of Northbridge.

9. What level of leadership involvement are you willing to accept:

• Leader Led (90% leader directed, 10% community directed)-(11%)
• Leader Facilitated (50% leader directed, 50% community  directed)-(70%)
• Communally Led (10 leader directed, 90% community directed)-(19%)

-Implication: a ‘half and half’ model of leadership in which staff and the community both take responsibility for the church is preferred.

Some final important implications that came out of the criteria survey’s results, combined with the community’s discussions from previous weeks and other situational factors led to these implications that were presented:

1. House churches are no longer a preferred option for NB’s future.
2. Meeting in the Shoreview Community Center is no longer a desirable option for NB’s future.
3. Merging with another church is no longer a preferred option for NB’s future.
4. Finding a church, community center, or similar organization that we could share space/partner with is the best option for NB’s next steps.
5. Rent will increase back to it’s normal higher rate at the Shoreview Community Center in September which NB currently can’t afford financially.
6. A two month notice is required by the Shoreview Community Center in advance of our moving out.
7. We will need to begin looking for new locations/partner spaces immediately.
8. We will also need to alert the Shoreview Community Center in early July of our intent to move out to meet their two month notice.
   

Time for questions, comments, and sharing was given at the end of the presentation with the staff sharing that the next stage of beginning to look for a space/partner that Northbridge could join with will now begin.  Communal discussions will continue to take place as this process begins and individuals from the community are still invited here on out to share their ideas, questions, or comments in the coming weeks.

Shane

 

Week 6 Communal Discussion: June 14th

This past Sunday Northbridge continued its discussion process with the staff presenting a set of 9 criteria defining questions for the individuals of the community to respond to during the gathering.

After presenting each criteria question, the staff discussed with the community any clarifying comments or thoughts that came with each question.

Here are the 9 questions that were presented for the community to respond to for themselves and Northbridge in the future:

1. What level of commitment do you have in Northbridge continuing as a faith community with:
A: an activistic, outreach oriented primary focus?    High, Medium, or Low

B: a dialogue, support group primary focus?                High, Medium, or Low

2. How far are you willing to drive to Northbridge?

10 minutes, 20 minutes, over 30 minutes

3. How often are you willing to come to the main gathering (Sundays mornings right now) per month?
Weekly, Every Other Week, Occasionally

4. How often are you willing to come outside of Sunday morning gatherings (study group, outings, service activities, etc.)?
Weekly, Every Other Week, Occasionally

5. What times of the day and week would you be open to meeting for the main gathering (mark all that apply for you)?
Saturday Evening, Sunday Morning, Sunday Evening

6. What type of locations would you:
A: oppose meeting in:                 Church, Community Center, Houses
B: like to meet in: Church, Community Center, Houses

7. What percentage of time of the main gathering time (Sunday morning right now) would you like devoted to:
A: teaching/education (receiving):                          30%, 60%, 90%
B: spiritual practices/dialogue (participation):          30%, 60%, 90%

8. What level of commitment do you have in addressing children’s spiritual development:

High, Medium, or Low

9. What level of leadership involvement are you willing to accept:
Leader Led (90% leader directed, 10% community directed)
Leader Facilitated (50% leader directed, 50% community directed)
Communally Led (10 leader directed, 90% community directed)

The responses from individuals will be tallied (both from those who were present on Sunday and those who email their surveys in) and then calculated to give us a better feel for what criteria we will be using as we begin to look ahead into potential practical options for Northbridge’s future.

Feel free to continue to submit your comments on the blog here or email your survey to Shane if you haven’t done so yet.

Shane

 

Week 5 Communal Discussion: June 7th

After a two week break we returned to our communal discussions on the transition process of Northbridge and the future of our faith community.

In the weeks since our last Sunday discussion the staff and leadership team had reviewed some of the potential reasons behind the ’stuckness’ that Northbridge seems to have experienced over the last few years that came out of the obstacles the community identified in our most recent community discussion.  This Sunday the staff presented a ’systemic look’ at this ’stuckness’ to the community and potential reasons for it.

Here is a brief review of the presentation on NB’s systemic ’stuckness’:

1.  Significant change in mission statement from pre-2006 to post-2006 leads to a significant change in how Northbridge wants to understand itself.

2.  Community aspirations, goals, and desires have remained remarkably stable over the last three year’s community discussions, planning conversations meaning…

3.  It may be more important to begin to look at next steps rather than continue to process what NB wants meaning…

4.  Our current mission statement may already adequately capture what we desire as a community.

Final stuckness thoughts…

1.  Stuckness is a sign of a symptom struggling to adjust to changes within it that are necessary; money, attendance are symptoms of the stuckness but not the real underlying problem.

2.  Change is upon us as a faith community…no matter what.

3.  Lack of making a decision is a decision.

4.  What decision do we want to make?

(If you would like a more detailed PowerPoint presentation of this please email Shane)

The staff then presented some preliminary options for Northbridge’s next steps in light of the aspirations, obstacles to reaching those aspirations, and the systemic challenges that Northbridge faces shared this morning.   It was noted that this signals a move from the initial ‘community processing time’ that we’ve been involved in to a more intentional ‘decision making process time’ for Northbridge’s next steps.

The options presented included two more ‘conservative’ options including:

1. Moving to a ‘house church model’ in which the main gatherings would not be at a central meeting location but rather in individual homes taking a more ’small group’ feel for church (this would help with finances and minimize the responsibility of set-up on Sundays; this option may also have a possibility of a main monthly gathering to connect the small groups together).
2. Decreasing the size of the room we use at the Community Center from the full meeting space to just  half the meeting space and then moving from a team of staff to one pastor (this option would allow for minimal change to NB and potentially allow for NB to continue without immediate financial stress when rent goes back up to the normal rate in September).

Two more progressive options were also presented that included:

1. Looking for a church or community development corporation that has similar values that Northbridge could merge with (this would most likely entail a major change in the identity of Northbridge but would potentially allow for NB to try and meet some of its more progressive aspirations as well as potentially alleviating financial stress depending on the merger situation).
2. Looking for a church or community center/development corporation that has space which Northbridge could share (potentially allowing for a better financial situation for NB, help NB try and meet its more progressive aspirations, allow for an adjustment in NB identity while still maintaining it in some desired forms).

After the presentation, the community was given time to respond with their questions, reflections, and comments.

Please continue to share your thoughts and comments on this blog with us.  The Sunday conversations will continue next week.

Shane

 

Week 4 Communal Discussion: May 17th

This past Sunday (May 17th) the staff of Northbridge presented two important things to the community that again were steps forward from the previous Sunday’s discussion:

First, Shane presented what the democratic process of decision making and planning exactly is that the staff and leadership team have used to get us this far in our community discussions and why this process has been used instead of the more ‘traditional’ church model of decision making and planning.

Here are a few of the challenges of the traditional church process that were presented:

• more hierarchical in nature & limits shared ownership, participation, and responsibility by community members
• isn’t ideal for incorporating concerns, ideas, and strengths of larger church community
• experiences a slowing in growth, change over time as as chosen model ’solidifies’

Here are a few of the benefits of the democratic church process that were presented:

• does a better job at resisting hierarchical model of decision making process by including and listening to the voices and thoughts of the community members
• moves community from being passive receivers towards being more active members in the process
• more fluid in nature promoting opportunities for community change, input, and overall engagement

(For more information on this democratic process feel free to email Shane)

Second, Alicia presented what seemed to be the common obstacles that arose from the community’s discussion on what challenges Northbridge faces to achieving the six aspirations that had previously been identified.

These obstacles (with simple examples or explanations included here) were:

1. Lack of Facility-rushed Sundays (need to get out of space); lack of proximity to each other, lack of actual neighborhood, lack of routine.

2. Staff/Leadership-functioning as a ‘part-time church’, lack of experience in leaders, staff role questions.

3. Deconstruction-lack of sense of ‘ wider’ church connection, questions around kids faith formation, deconstruction of beliefs, theology, practices.

4. Differences-interpersonal (vulnerability), personalities, preferences, church practices, backgrounds, experiences.

5. Outreach-challenge with sustainability, introverted style of leadership and community personality, comfortable with supporting each other.

6. Time-people can offer during week, leaders can offer, limited Sunday morning time.

After the presentation of the democratic process and these six obstacles there was a good time of sharing in communal response and questions.

We will continue our community discussions in two weeks after having a simple service and outdoor picnic for Memorial Day Sunday and having a guest speaker from the Lift Community in St. Paul share with us the last Sunday in May.

Please plan to join us for these next two Sundays and on Sunday, June 7th when we will move into the next phase of our communal discussions.

Shane

 

Week 3 Communal Discussion: May 10th

Last Sunday the topic for discussion was taking a look at what obstacles the community of Northbridge faces to reaching the 6 communal aspirations that were identified and discussed the previous week.

People present on Sunday were invited to break up into six small groups as each group took an in-depth look at what obstacles they could identify for just one aspiration.  After a time of individual idea sharing within their groups, each group was then invited to share their thoughts with the larger community as the responses were recorded on a marker board for all to see.  Following each group’s sharing, the rest of the groups had some time to share any additional obstacles they could think of for achieving that specific aspiration.

Below are the 6 aspirations and the various obstacles that were identified for each one:

Neighbor Awareness: proximity, time, lack of existing relationships with diversity, lack of actual neighborhood, lack of opportunities for informal activities, no routine or activities, assimilating new people into broader community, unknown prejudices-lack of awareness of them, how to fit children into outward awareness, no model of how to do it (pluralism), lack of facility

Communal Awareness: too busy (outside NB), proximity to each other, only see each other once a week, habits (sit with same people), divergent lifestyle phases, personality-introverted style, opportunities to be vulnerable (in need), difficulty to share needs/weakness, lack of facility, lack of small group gathering for intimacy, unspoken discomfort (going along), rushed Sundays (at NB), structure as an obstacle/certain things must be done on Sunday

Self Awareness: defensiveness, time limits, lack of closeness that’s needed for honesty, inaccurate self-image, insecurity, fear of self, fear of the cost of self awareness (egos attaching to the world), projection (get upset about other people’s problems when they’re your own), lack of mature leadership (experience), personal woundedness (unhealed), lack of opportunities to promote self-awareness

God Awareness: preferences and practices are different, personal things that interfere with our relationship with others and God, self esteem issues, fear of the unknown, time, personal commitment, distraction (personal and communal), motivation-failure to take action, failure to make genuine commitment, deconstructed ideas & images (God, prayer, church), differences

Challenge: pressure to conform, different backgrounds/education, fear of getting bills paid, fear of being part of hierarchy, challenge of losing control, fear of control and conformity, challenge of playing it safe, challenge of going against denominational pull, different levels of commitment, different levels of spirituality, fear of being vulnerable (being judged), tendency towards sameness/tradition, fitting children into the process-kids questions

Celebration: time, energy, sarcasm (unhealthy ways), too much structure, not knowing how or what to celebrate, different backgrounds, don’t celebrate tradition, lack of “woo” or outgoing nature, lack of organization, limited musicians, hard time creating new ideas, knowing how to plan roles so everyone has a part

The identification of these obstacles to reaching the six commuanl aspirations will continue to help us in this process of identifying where were are going as a community in our continued weekly discussions.

As always, feel free to share a comment or idea on these obstacles and we look forward to continuing the discussion with you this coming Sunday!

Shane

 

Week 2 Communal Discussion: May 3rd

This past Sunday the community was presented with what the staff of Northbridge identified as the six main aspirations of what the community would like to be and do that came out of the previous Sunday’s individual responses to the two focus questions from the week before. (see post below for previous Sunday’s focus questions)

The community was presented with power point slides that showed the 6 aspirations and how all of the individual words from the community’s responses the week before fit under these six aspirations.

How these aspirations can be understood then is that:

Northbridge aspires to be about: (note that the words in parenthesis following the aspirations are examples of the responses from the previous Sunday’s communal discussion that the six aspirations derive from…)

1.  Neighbor Awareness-Directed towards supporting those outside NB

(tolerant, reaching out, multicultural, reconciling, other-aware, welcoming)

2.  Communal Awareness-Directed towards supporting each other @ NB

(deep friendships, supportive, vulnerable, child faith development, honest)

3.  Self Awareness-Directed towards individual self growth & awareness

(helping us grow, learned, empowered, intentional, fruitful, mature)

4.  God-Awareness-Directed towards God & spiritual practices/rituals

(aware of sacredness, holistic worship, contemplative, worshipful, faithful)

5.  Challenge-Directed towards being a different church & being stretched

(non-traditional, takes Jesus seriously, justice-oriented, questioning, bold)

6. Celebration-Directed towards being celebratory & enjoyable

(motivational, musical, creative, free-spirited, whole, healthy, fun)

After being presented with these aspirations the community was given time to reflect and share their thoughts, questions, and add if anything seemed to be missing from them.

Next Sunday we will continue the discussion with the next step in this phase and we will continue to use the information gained from previous weeks like these 6 aspirations to guide us forward.

Again, please feel free to leave a comment to share your thoughts and feedback and we hope to see you Sunday as we have our week 3 discussion together!

Shane

 

Week 1 Communal Discussion: April 26th

The activity for this first Sunday of our new spring/summer community discussions concerning the future of Northbridge was a communal time of reflection and sharing on two important questions.

Individuals were asked to first take time to reflect on and then answer these questions for themselves and then there was  a time for open sharing and recording of the various responses for all of the members of the community to hear and see.

The questions for reflection were these:

Question #1: What type of spiritual community/church excites you?

Question #2: What kind of Christian would we like to be forming at Northbridge?

Below are the responses that were shared in the open sharing session for each question…

Question #1: Type of spiritual community/church:

tolerant, open, non-traditional, motivational, rebel (radical), questioning, honest, deep-friendships, vulnerable, wrestling together, reliable, egalitarian, doing, participatory, pro-active, creative, reaching out, accepting, multi-cultural, aware of diversity, humor/humility, forgiving/reconciling, takes Jesus seriously, supportive, scary, pluralistic, aware of sacredness, challenging, holistic worship, social, healthy, church that is, musical, fun…

Question #2: Kind of Christian being formed:

Non-judgmental, faithful, compassionate, committed, self-aware, other-aware (oriented), God-aware, open-minded, grounded in our history, caring, honest, intentional, learned, justice-oriented, questioning, empowered, merciful, fruitful, free-spirited, wholeness, healthy, willing, controversial, bold & humble, loving, thoughtful, forgiving, hospitable/welcoming, servant, contemplative, gracious, fun, meet you where you are…

We will take these responses and move forward this coming Sunday but if you have responses or aspirations for these two questions you’d like to add, please do so here by commenting on this post.

We hope to see you on Sunday as we continue our discussion!

Shane