Ministry Action Plan 2012

MINISTRY ACTION PLAN

Grace United Church of Christ of Loyal Oak’s (GLO) Ministry Action Plan 2012 is both a brief narrative report for 2011 and a plan of action for our community of faith in 2012, as we enter our eleventh year with Rev. Daniel Young as pastor, who introduced Ministry Action Plans in 2005 so that the annual GLO budget would be supported with narratives of the all the Ministry Teams who are now responsible for the work of the church.

GLO continues our work through ten major ministry teams. They include the Administrative Ministry Team, which not only includes the church administrative and office functions that keep the church operating, but also includes our pastor’s call agreement package that enables him to lead the worship and sacraments of the church, to do the work of visionary leadership, equipping the people of GLO to do the work of the church, and ministering to the needs of the people; and the Properties Ministry Team, also with an administrative function, provides and maintains our buildings; the church and the rental house.

The remaining eight Ministry Teams of GLO, as part of MAP 2012, include Evangelism, Worship Arts, Social Justice (which includes our GLO Green Team), Healing and Wholeness, Spiritual Formation (including GLO Library), Congregational Events, Local Missions and Wider Church. These Ministry Teams function independently and collaboratively to provide all the other ministries of the church. In addition, a Pastor Care Team can be selected by the pastor to provide him support and care. MAP 2012, with its budget, will serve to keep us on a course of growing faithful disciples of Jesus Christ; reaching out to meet the needs of people in our community and our world, and being a beacon of welcome and inclusion to ALL people in need of the grace and love found here!

The 2012 budget reflects the absolute minimum financial needs to operate the church. The pastor’s salary and housing allowance will remain the same as 2011 due to economic conditions. The major part of the budget increase for 2011and now 2012 is that the $6,700 rental income is no longer actual income to general fund since it goes to needed repairs and renovation of the house. (Exception as of 2012, see below at end of Properties Team section)

ADMINISTRATIVE MINISTRY TEAM

The Administrative Ministry Team is comprised of the Consistory Members, who govern the overall ‘business’ of the church, including for the facilities and office operations, which are included in this part of the budget. Volunteer Jean Barron continues to word process the monthly GraceNews. Tookie Mullen provides weekly bulletin folding and distribution and monthly newsletter mailing with Jean. Mary Ann Schumacher is our new Word Processor and Church Calendar Volunteer in the newly designed Front Office. Our goal this year is to archive all of our Consistory and Ministry Team records for the past two years into the computer, reducing the need to keep paper files.

Pastor Dan continues to transfer record keeping and other administrative functions to volunteer Mary Ann Schumacher in the front office so that she will be able to help transition the office functions when a change of pastor leadership occurs sometime in the next five years due to the pastor’s eventual retirement. The Five Year Plan for GLO has been developed by the Congregation and includes the details of the Interim Pastor process and the Search Process for a new permanent pastor for when that time comes.

PROPERTIES MINISTRY TEAM

Von and David Over continue doing a fine job leading this team and doing much of the work themselves, along with other GLO volunteers. In January they restained and varnished the sanctuary wood floor, working over a 3 week time frame. February, they had the oversized water heater in bathrooms removed and smaller unit put in place to conserve energy and started project to replace and repair outdoor signs. In March, work was started the on Men's Bathroom;  replaced flooring and new lighting and new ceiling tile.  In April, was a spring cleaning day and painting the doors in the hall of education building and the men's bathroom. New signs for outside finished and placed. In June the parking lot was resurfaced and stripped. July, new banners were hung on the front of the church. In September rewiring was begun in the church office and exterior holes sealed up to prevent raccoons from coming in.   In October the wiring in office was completed, and the office was repainted office and new cupboards and counters were added, along with new window coverings. The redo of the Men's bathroom, the Front Office remodel and all paint were donated. The team will continue to form a sidewalk snow removal group for Sunday mornings.  They hope to be able to get new exterior doors installed and to seal up the tower and insulate. The team will continue to try to do a lot with as little as best they can, hoping that the congregation will continue to appreciate the building needs and help to finance the many projects necessary. It’s important to point out here that the much of improvements, including the renovations of the offices and the men’s bathroom were donated and the work done by the Overs.

Herb and Tookie Mullen have accomplished significant repairs and updating in the rental property, using both donated funds and the monthly rental income. However, prior to their role of coordination of the rental property, the roof repair was borrowed from the capital campaign fund and will need to be reimbursed by one month per quarter of the rent until the loan is paid. The other two months of each quarter rent will continue to go into rental house maintenance.

WORSHIP ARTS MINISTRY TEAM

Our music ministry continues to be of fine quality, thanks to the dedication of director Don Kaser, pianist David Kunkleman and Organist Shirley Angiulo, and our wonderful GLO singers and musicians. The purpose of worship at GLO is to express love, gratitude, and adoration to God for all of creation, for the work of Christ, the presence of the Spirit, and the gift of grace.

Kim Gravis has decided to step down as chairperson of the Worship Arts Ministry Team. She has served the church well in that role and that of liturgical dancer. David Evans will be the new chairperson, bringing to the team many talents and ideas. In the short time he and Olivia have been attending GLO we have been fortunate to benefit from their gifts of music and organizational skills.

Budget items for Worship Arts include stipends for the music director and pianist, funds for maintenance and repair of the piano and organ, and for acquisition of new music and computer software. No increases are anticipated for 2012. Shirley Angiulo continues to volunteer her services as organist and is greatly appreciated for her gifts.

In the past two years the choir has numbered sixteen to eighteen, with a very good balance of voices. They are a dedicated and fun-loving group and look forward each week to praising God through song. Accompaniment for the choir is done by either our pianist, by electronically sequenced compositions or by pre-recorded accompaniment tracks purchased through a music subscription service.

For the 2011-12 season the choir will be performing Joseph Martin’s Christmas cantata, “Winter’s Grace”. We are also considering another cantata for Easter of 2012, so there is much work in store for the choir this year. 

Another function of Worship Arts is that of bringing the sound and light of worship to the congregation. Short and long range goals for improvement include providing hearing assist devices for those who are hard of hearing, upgrading the sound system, including relocation of the control panel to the rear of the sanctuary, and improving the sanctuary and choir loft lighting. New to the GLO worship experience this year has been the addition of video projections within the service, thanks to Lynn Reynolds. Response has been positive. The use of video adds color and expression and creates a more communal worship environment as heads are lifted up from the hymnals and out towards our surroundings. The video services will continue about once per month.

EVANGELISM MINISTRY TEAM

The Evangelism Ministry Team’s mission is to tell the Good News of God’s grace and love through Jesus Christ, to those who have yet to experience, is the mission of the Evangelism Ministry Team. Chaired ably by Rick Thome the team met quarterly. We continue our planning to distribute bags of taxable, and therefore non-food stamp-eligible, supplies to those in need. Included in these Agape Bags were laundry detergent, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dish soap, kitchen waste bags, and toilet pap3er. The memorial fund from Grace Finney was used to provide seed funding for these, and congregational donations rounded out the need. To date, we have distributed over 50 bags valued at over $20 each, most of these to parents with children in the Norton public schools, but also to members and friend of our congregation at large. We plan on continuing this work, because the need continues to grow in this economy. GLO greeters Rich Easterling and Bill Grabenhorst and other volunteers continue to welcome folks each Sunday, and transportation to the church and parking of cars and helping folks get into the church are also offered by the Greeters.

SPIRITUAL FORMATION MINISTRY TEAM

Joyce Halter and her volunteers continue creative ways to teach our kids. Although the mission continues to be to help the children understand how the Bible lessons are an important part of their lives, the materials and room environment have been transformed. A wide age range of children, from one and a half to thirteen years, attend Sunday School and the nursery. This creates a challenge, but through much planning and additional age-appropriate materials used in the classroom and new colorful, interactive handouts sent home, we believe the children are benefitting more. The hands-on craft time is spent making a model-sized replica or symbol representative of the lesson of the week. The children better recall the lesson when involved in making something tangible they can take home. Lessons learned in a joy-filled, fun manner are more likely to be appealing and retained. All of the materials for these projects are donated, just as additional teaching aides like videos and flannel board stories.

Next year we plan to continue involving the youth in worthwhile service projects such as collecting Christmas toys for children in the Miller Ave UCC neighborhood and in further decorating the Rainbow Room and banners and wall motifs like “The Blessing Tree.” Through all we do, our mission is always to help the child know God’s love for us.

SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY TEAM

The Social Justice Ministry Team has been less active as we do not have a Team Chair. Rev. John Beaty has agreed to be our Social Justice ‘Advisor’, as he cannot be a voting member of GLO due to his retirement requirements as United Methodist Clergy. This team’s focus is the rights and privileges of everyone and is advocating for the marginalized, oppressed, and disadvantaged. Free trade products are also a mission of the Team and Treasurer, and they can be purchased in the Consistory Room. The GLO Green Team is a subgroup of Social Justice, and its mission is to find cleaner, more fuel efficient, and more earth friendly ways of caring for our church and congregation. The Norton/Barberton/Wadsworth Peace Group continues to meet at GLO on the fourth Tuesday of each month, and several of our members are active members, so that our peace and justice initiatives are coordinated with them locally, and the United Church of Christ denomination offices nationally.

CONGREGATIONAL EVENTS TEAM

Nancy Bracht will be our new leader for this team of separate Event Planners, as her task will be to simply coordinate the annual event calendar and support each Event Coordinator throughout the year. 

LOCAL MISSION MINISTRY TEAM

The GLO Local Mission Ministry Team includes individual local missions with their own coordinators. This year we have been blessed with an overall Team Chair, Nancy Kirby, to provide an umbrella coordination of all the mission coordinators, to ensure each mission has the volunteers needed and help with coordinating the annual calendar of mission events. Our local giving is done through our Hearts and Hands fund which provides gifts to several local groups and individuals in the church or in the community who need cash or supplies assistance. The team also includes missions such as Barberton Area Community Ministries food bank, community lunches for Open M and Miller Ave. UCC Mission Church. During Christmas and Thanksgiving GLO provides several opportunities for special giving: Angel Tree (gifts for two families), Food Baskets for two families at both Christmas and Thanksgiving, Pajamas for Kids, and winter clothing and a toy drive for Miller Ave. area kids done by Joyce Halter and the GLO kids and Girl Scout troops meeting at GLO.

The most prominent “in house” Mission of GLO continues to be the Family Promise/ Interfaith Hospitality Network, led by coordinator Jane Nickerson, who has developed a team of coordinators of separate functions of the program which hosts up to 14 people in families temporarily without homes for a week, every eleven weeks.

Our church continues to open its doors to 12-Step Recovery groups like Alcoholic Anonymous, and currently hosts eight groups: “A Way Out” Discussion Group on Tuesday evenings, Loyal Oak Big Book Study Group on Sunday evenings, Monday A.M. Kitchen Table Devotional, Friday night ‘Norton 24-Hour’ , and Alanon group, Saturday Morning Steps Class, Narcotics Anonymous on Monday evenings and a Compulsive Eaters Anonymous group on Thursday nights. 12-Step recovery programs are seen as a very important transformational program, and GLO considers opening our doors to them an important ‘ministry’, creating ‘a place for healing’. The donations we receive from these groups have increased significantly in 2011.

WIDER CHURCH MINISTRY TEAM

All of the wider church (national and global) benevolent giving will pass through the Wider Church Ministry Team, including Our Churches Wider Mission (OCWM), as well as at least five other UCC mission offerings each year. GLO continues to be an official “Five For Five” UCC giving church. Our mission giving through the denomination is approaching 5%. Being faithful to the wider church needs, while some churches are lowering their OCWM giving, we are keeping this year’s OCWM offering the same as last year.

HEALING AND WHOLENESS MINISTRY TEAM (Previously Care and Comfort)

In 2012, our Healing and Wholeness Team, led by Lynn Reynolds, has offered wonderful prayers for people in need via our GLO email list. As GLO continues to grow and expand our outreach efforts to those of our church family who are in need, this team will help meet those needs as they arise. We meet every Tuesday evening for Intercessory Prayer for individuals, the church and the world. Parish Nurse, Nancy Kirby, continues to provide assistance when needed and information about wholeness and health information, including providing blood pressure checks at our special events. Lynn and Pastor Dan have been leading Healing and Wholeness Worship Services two to three times a year and will continue to do so.

OVERALL PICTURE OF THE BUDGET

The GLO consistory faced a challenge with the 2012 budget as we are presently faced with a year to date income deficit for a variety of factors. The rental income was used for needed repairs and renovations of the house, so was not available for the General Fund income as before. Also the stagnant economy still negatively affects the area and many of our members. The pastor’s Health plan had a premium increase, and we continue to expect that utilities and property maintenance will represent the majority of the budget. The pastor’s pay package will remain the same for 2012. The overall package includes a salary and housing allowance, car allowance, cell phone, UCC Pension Board Medical/dental/life/disability coverage and annuity. The pastor continues to pay his own federal income tax, including Social Security taxes out of the package offered. As always this budget reflects our attempt to be faithful to God’s gracing us to be a growing church. God continues to bless this church in so many ways, as we’ve seen continued increase in membership. While many churches are struggling to even stay alive, GLO, with God’s Spirit driving us, continues to show vibrancy and relevancy as we become the church God intends us to be!