February 28, 2020
Gathering Together
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.
1Peter 4:10


February is a good month to take inventory of our progress toward the Church goals for the year! We will do so within the action framework of: Ways to Serve, Ways to Support and Ways to Work, providing opportunities for you to be informed and to get involved.

We have been focused on three main goals to include:

1. Increase Sunday Church Attendance and Overall Participation in the Life of the Church
2. Ensure Long-Term Financial Sustainability
3. Enhance the Professionalism in our Church Organization through supports to our Church employees
Increased Participation - Our Sunday Church participation (excluding special services and Christmas services) is up 4% this Church year from the 2018-2019 Church year. The months of September and December reflected the greatest increase from the prior year with an additional 13% attending in September and 17% attending in December. The opportunities for participation in the life of the Church has increased with the addition of our September Block Party, Oktoberfest and game nights. We would like to continue to expand opportunities for involvement, so please be on the lookout for some additional events this spring.

Financial Stability - Our long-term financial stability is a process the Financial Committee is strategically addressing. Three members of the Congregation are new members of the Endowment Fund. Approximately $10,000 was generously donated by members of the Congregation in our invitation to contribute $100 in honor of the 100th anniversary of our Church building. The Capital Project work continues to address issues and enhance areas of our building to make it a welcoming, safe and comfortable environment for all. Through focused repair and care of the facilities, the long-term financial needs to maintain the facilities should be more predictable.

Organizational Professionalism - An examination of Human Resources procedures started with the employee evaluation process. Focus was placed on making the evaluations for all clergy and staff meaningful and manageable. As such, the evaluation instruments were redesigned and implemented within a reasonable timeline, without providing undue burden for the evaluator or the employee being evaluated. The next steps will be to examine the Employee Handbook to ensure that all legal requirements are met and that policies and procedures provide the proper balance between employer and employees.  
Sunday School, Youth Group, Retreats
Be Present, Pledge and Celebrate at the Gala
Focus Groups, Spring Workdays Coming
As we enter Lent and honor some of the most sacred times in the Church year, we pause to recognize the blessings we share by fostering a love of God in our youth, worshiping together with the members of our Congregation and gathering the input of the Congregation to help plan a future to strengthen and grow our Church. 
Won’t you join us to Be the Church ?

We hope to see you at our Sunday, March 1st Gala to celebrate these many blessings! In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to us with any ideas or suggestions on any aspect of Church life.

With a grateful heart,

535 Forest Ave. fccge.org