At the Session meeting on December 15, 2025, Elders chose a slate of eight church members to comprise the Mission Study Committee.

Individuals were selected based on qualities essential to effective teamwork and strategic planning. Of about 16 individuals, eight were selected to serve, including Dale Shidemantle, Paul Caram, Geoff Ginader, Katrina Johnson-Smith, Kia Howell, Barb Macks, Monty Service, and Jay Shimek.

Pastor Britney serves as a consultant to the committee. The facilitator of our meetings is Mike Estrich, President of Collective Insights, which provides consulting services to help businesses and nonprofits navigate change and strategic decision-making.  

The role of the Mission Study Committee is to help the church reflect on its mission, prayerfully discern priorities, observe currents of change, and shape a sustainable path forward during this time of transition.

The Committee is scheduled to meet on two Saturdays a month through March and then once in April if needed. We first met on January 10, 2026, in Room 116. At the start of the meeting, Pastor Britney commented that “good things” seem to happen in Room 116. The Committee’s first meeting was one of those “good things”; it was filled with diverse viewpoints and open expression in broad-ranging and robust conversation.

 We started out in a lengthy discussion of key turning points for the church over the past 25 years that have had meaningful impacts on the life of the church, both positive and negative.  

The Committee was then divided into three breakout groups tasked with reflecting on the following four questions as they relate to where the church is right now:

• What is going in the right direction that we should build upon?
• What is going in the wrong direction that needs to be changed?
• What feels confusing or unclear and needs greater clarity?
• What do you believe we may be missing as a church?

Through listening, learning, and discerning together, team members will develop a shared perspective and identify common themes, core issues, key ministry priorities, and patterns and trends within the church.

 This committee is working toward a three-to-five-year strategy that embodies the church’s calling, community context, and operational capacity, while supporting faithful stewardship of people, facilities, finances, and partnerships.

At the close of this first session, we exited Room 116, leaving behind leftover pastries and walls covered in sheets of newsprint displaying a jumble of ideas and observations, printed in green, blue, and black felt markers in varying degrees of legibility.  To no one’s surprise, the scheduled 3-hour session went into overtime. Our next meeting is scheduled for January 24, 2026.