Strategic Plan Update- Strategy #2
Strategy #2 – Increase the participation of parishioners and members of the public at large in the ministries offered at St. James Parish.
Energized by worship on Sunday, members of St. James Parish will go out into the world during the week to preach the Gospel, notably through active service – a strategy that requires caring, commitment, and organization.
In almost 100 ministries, that service now is performed by a small, thinly stretched number of loyal parishioners who work overtime to seek excellence, a fundamental goal of our strategic plan. However, with effective organization, fewer ministries, and more participants — indeed a parish of 1200 members – we can dramatically strengthen our church community and the Wilmington community at large.
Service can take many forms. The Strategic Planning Group has recommended to the Vestry ministries in these areas:
- Outreach: for example, in poverty prevention, race relations and reconciliation, homelessness and hunger, children and education, family support, and care for the earth;
- Pastoral Care: not just traditional care but well-organized programs to connect members of the parish to one another;
- Faith Formation: for example, a well-funded lecture program, seminars applying Christianity to everyday life, and musical offerings which attract to SJP members of the community at large.
Through service we can preach the Gospel in our parish and community. The Priest-in-Charge of St. John the Divine in Houston, interviewed in our survey of church leaders, put it this way to his parish: “If our church closed, who would notice?”