Parish Profile, 2014

Jim Dannals left in July, 2013. By September, 2013, the following 11 people listed in alphabetical order were chosen for the Search Committee:

Pat Baughman
Hurley Bogardus
Hannah Cannon
Russ Carter
Ed Dinger
Dori Eglevsky
Dick Juergens
Peggy Marshall
Meghan O’Connor
Mary Jane O’Neill
Barbara Willis

After several votes, Dori Eglevsky was elected as Chair of the Search Committee and Dick Juergens Co-Chair. They were commissioned

The first half of 2014 was the creation of survey which fed into the Parish Profile.

The survey was written by Feb., 2014 and tested.  It was completed in March, 2014, with 248 responses. 60 pages of comments and 19 people that wanted the church to contact them.  For the most part the results were as expected.  The greatest percentage of respondents came from the 60 and older group and the 11:00 service.  The comments provided will be used to give the general sense as to where the congregation wants the church to go and may provide specific quotes to be used in the profile write up, maybe to head each section.

Peggy Marshall later said the comments were very positive. She said there was a larger group of people active in church activities than in other churches. Usually it is only 20% active but St. George’s figure was closer to 75%.  They were disappointed in the response by families to the survey.

In preparation of the profile, they held planned group sessions with the first one scheduled for Sunday, March 23rd. Other dates reserved are April 13th & 27th and May 11th. The survey responses provided  five areas that  would be good for discussions in small groups. 

  • The importance of ministry as a mutual obligation between the Rector and the congregation (note question 28 involved with ministry and the laity participation)
  • Further development of the qualities one would like to see in the Rector
    1. What do you mean by spiritual?
    2. What kinds of sermons are you looking for in an engaging speaker?
  • What expectations do parishioners have for Adult Education and Youth Education?
  • What do we, as a parish, want to see and accomplish in the future? Goals?
  • What are the expectations of the role of St. George’s in the community?

The actual writing of the profile was underway in March, 2014 with a rough outline in place and sections assigned to individuals.  Sections such as history, building layout and existing programs proceeded with the final sections on direction to be completed with input from the small group sessions.

The part dealing future directions for the church depended on the completion of the small group meetings

By May, Meghan O’Connor and Peggy Marshall put the text together and it was approved by the Vestry and then sent to the Diocese in June.

They next concentrated on updating the web site which they saw as a critical complement to the Parish Profile

By August, 2014, Peggy Marshall reported the profile had made a difference.  Applicants have read the profile and know St. George’s is.

profile2014