Report of the Mini-Mission Team

First Presbyterian Church of Caledonia

Part 1- Introduction

Our task was to gather data about Caledonia and the local area and to get a feeling where First Presbyterian Church is in this community. This was to be done by interviewing the mayor, town supervisor and school superintendent but each member was also charged with talking to at least four people in the community about FPC and what programs those outside the church felt made an impact.

During the past several weeks, members of the team met with the Mayor of Caledonia, Debbie Davis, Supervisor of the Town of Caledonia, Dan Pangrazio and Superintendent of Caledonia-Mumford Central School, Robert Molisseni and asked questions regarding their particular demographics and also collected economic data. Each leader was asked to identify the challenges facing the community as a whole and the resources available. They were asked to project ahead five years and determine where they envisioned the community. They were also asked what contributions the churches can make and what were the unmet needs in the community?

The team also gathered responses from the ‘man-on the street’ interviews and shared those responses with the group. These questions covered their outside knowledge of the programs and mission of First Presbyterian Church and were used to help establish where the church stood in the life of the Caledonia community.

Part 2 - What is Happening in the Community

The school, village and town are basically all suffering with the same issues; how to deal with New York State’s property tax cap and at the same time offer good services to their constituencies. “Doing more with less” seems to be the standard in today’s world. All three are dealing with dropping population numbers. There is little industry in Caledonia and it has become a bedroom community for people working in Monroe County. The lack of sewers has limited the growth and new land for building within the village boundaries is scarce.

Lack of affordable housing for senior citizens has meant that people tend to live in their homes and hold on to them rather than selling and down-sizing. The result is that there are fewer young families moving into the village.

While the school is looking at a continuing drop in population ten years out, the village and town are more hopeful that attracting new businesses will cause the population to stop its decline and return to levels of the early 21st century. All three agencies were quick to point out the positives of the churches in the community from setting a good example of stewardship to providing help for those in need, to feeding people’s bodies and souls.

The majority of those community members interviewed had positive things to say about First Presbyterian Church. This church has been here forever was a common comment from people; and indeed we are aware that the history of Caledonia and the history of the First Presbyterian Church are deeply intertwined.

When asked if they were familiar with programs that were part of the First Presbyterian Church the majority said ‘yes’. The concert programs that are held during the year were mentioned as were the Wednesday Night Suppers and SOS. Focus on the Children was also mentioned and one person asked about Sunday School and was surprised when told that we still have it. Our long standing mission programs were also mentioned as well as was our “open-ness” and approachability. Our wonderful music program is also well known and admired. Many also mentioned Rev. Nancy Reinert as someone that was well thought of in the community as well as being very welcoming to all.

Part 3 - The Focus of Our Ministry

Part of our directive was to also interview the Deacons and the Session. Each member of those two boards was asked to list the most significant programs and activities organized or run by the congregation.

These lists were then divided by “Ministry to the Congregation” and “Outreach to the Community/World”

As you would imagine there was much duplication. Here is a composite of the lists.

Ministry to the Congregation

Confirmation Classes

Choir/Music/Bells

Wednesday Night Suppers

Recycling Program

Children’s time with the Pastor

Hope and Healing Service

Godly Play

Service Committees

Coffee Hours

Worship

Pastoral Care

Bible Study

Graduate Recognition

Liturgists and Ministers of Hospitality

Seasonal Teams

SOS

Weddings Baptisms, Funerals

Outreach to the Community/World

Baccalaureate Service

Source of Success

Wednesday Night Suppers

Learning Tree

Backpack Project

Special Concerts

Scholarships for Seniors

Food Link

Food Pantry

Focus on the Children

Peacemaking and other special offerings

Water for Sudan

Breakfast with Santa

Open Access to our facility

When both groups were asked the question: “if all you knew of this congregation was this list of programs what would you conclude about this church?” Both groups answered almost identically: “That we are a strong, active community center which bases its programs on the awareness and the needs of our church and community.”

Part 4 - Why Are We Here?

At the celebration of our 210th birthday on November 8th, a sharing time was held and facilitated by our interim pastor, Rev. Bill Schram. During that time people were asked to share Good Memories, Sad Memories, Strengths on Which to Build and What We want to Leave Behind.

There were many happy memories by those present of the event they remembered such as when they joined the church, strawberry socials, Christmas pageants, Christmas Eve Candlelight service, youth groups, baptisms, weddings and fellowship.

There were also sad memories: the loss of many of our older members, the summer we lost so many young people, turbulence caused by pastors leaving under unpleasant circumstances, retirements and loss of members.

Many positive strengths on which to build were also listed, such as our welcoming atmosphere, wonderful music program, seasonal teams, Wednesday Night Suppers, a good sense of mission, community service and our bonds with the community offering funerals for any family, and most of all our history of community ties.

The things we want to leave behind are the hurts from the past, partisan thinking, negative thinking and a reluctance to change.

The congregation was also asked to answer some questions during worship on December 6th. Each member was asked to list 10 things in answer to the question: “Why has God called this particular group of people together at this time?” As you might guess Fellowship and Worship were at the top of the list. Also mentioned were music, spiritual renewal, sharing baptism and communion, support to one another, to serve and carry on mission, to serve as a beacon of hope in a world of fear, to be His hands and feet in the community, to give thanks, to always place Jesus as the head of our life in church, home, business, and everyday living. There were seven pages, single spaced of responses to that question. Who says we don’t have a lot to say?

The second question that was asked was: “What do we value as a congregation?” Again mission, music, and worship were high on the list. Also mentioned was our pride in sponsoring Wednesday Night Suppers, Source of Success and providing a home for Focus on the Children. Pride that we are a support to this community. We value our Fellowship, our church family, our time with the children and Godly Play. We value our beautiful church building, our seasonal teams, our openness, and our generosity.

Part 5 - What is Our Vision?

So now we ask, what does all of this mean? Where does the congregation want and need to go? What are the internal and external limitations? What are the external constraints and opportunities? Are there changes that need to be made in our mission and ministry? Is our mission statement still viable? How do we grow? How do we go from a welcoming to an inviting congregation? There are lots of questions and in this section, we have tried to provide some ideas to do this.

One of the strengths that was mentioned over and over was the fact that we are a ‘permission giving’ congregation. Our Session listens to ideas and is open to change. We also dared to dream, so here we go.

Information

Our webpage is up-to-date and user friendly. We need to keep it that way. To many newcomers, it may be their first introduction to this congregation.

It is also necessary for us to maintain a presence on social media. Our Facebook page is a wonderful way to stay in daily contact with our members and perspective members. This needs to continue.

The sign out in the front lawn needs to be updated. Are we looking at changing the signage? Perhaps, because right now it only tells you one thing---worship time. What about other programs, such as Wednesday Night Supper, concerts etc. Should we do an electronic one or even just one that can be updated daily or weekly?

We were reminded by someone in the community how informative our bulletin boards were. Bulletin Boards-what do you do while you are waiting in a doctor’s office or a gym, read the info on the walls. Our bulletin boards are a great source of information about the life of this church.

We have suggested that a listing be included in the GV Pennysaver regarding worship times and also program times. This is being done now.

It is reported that about 16% of the school population turns over each year, so there are new families moving in, even as school enrollment declines. Is there a way to sponsor with the schools/governmental agencies a ‘New to Our Community” event that will let new folks know all about the opportunities available in this community? What an exercise in welcoming that would be!

Mission

One of the things that came through loud and clear about First Presbyterian Church is MISSION. We value it, the community of Caledonia values it and has come to expect it from us. It is absolutely essential to the life of this church that this continue. We smell like mission. Hand in hand with mission is our caring attitude. We have become Chaplin to the Community with our openness and inclusiveness. People from this community have come here to rejoice but also to grieve. Again this is an important part of who we are and needs to continue and be fostered.

With financial resources being stretched in the church, are there different ways for us to support mission? Is it possible to do separate appeals for monetary support? We are a generous congregation, the Peacemaking Offering this fall will attest to that. We need to be creative in finding ways to fund those things that are important to us.

Discipleship and Worship

We as a congregation value our worship time. We love the music, the fellowship, the children, and the sense of spiritual renewal. We place Jesus Christ first and try to keep that perspective in our lives during the week. We receive spiritual renewal during Bible Study. We receive it and take it with us as we practice Stewardship doing service and outreach through volunteering in the community, SOS or Wednesday Night Suppers. This is valuable to the community but also to us as members. It is who we are, and how we are seen.

Another way of renewal might be to offer discussion groups regarding the sermons, either on Sunday mornings before church or during the week .It is another way to offer Fellowship as well as that renewal thing.

Internal and External Limitations

There is no doubt that we are an aging congregation. We need to have new members but as indicated in our information gathered from the village, town and school, the population base is stagnant and not projected to rise. Fewer young families are moving here. We may need to adjust our targeted audience. Is there an underserved population? Yes there is, and surprisingly it is in the younger Baby Boomers, ages 40-59. They are the largest population group also at 39%. We need to attract these folks and then give them a reason to keep coming back.

Church attendance is declining among all generations, with an increasing lack of attendance, the younger the generation. There are unchurched people in the community, but they will be less likely to just come in or be attracted by publicity.

The challenge will be to move from being a welcoming church to being an inviting church. How can we increase interaction with people in community settings and build bridges over which we can invite people to come join us.

We are also facing a financial slow-down with a deficit budget looming. That is obviously an internal limitation that we are facing. It is hard to think about growing and increasing our programs while facing a shortfall of funds. Is there some other agency of church that we could brainstorm with to do some things? One of the suggestions was a concert series during the winter similar to the Celtic Concert, that would get them inside the doors and serve not only as a fund-raiser but also as a way to tell people about us and who we are; perhaps a pamphlet in the pews about FPC, our past and our present. Get them interested and hopefully they will come back.

One of the drawbacks of Seasonal Teams is the Fellowship piece. Remember when we had an M&M (Membership and Mission) committee? Remember some of the fun things we did as a group, a church family? Game night, Red Wing games, concerts, hockey games to name just a few. The Seasonal Teams have so much on their plate that there isn’t time to plan outings like that. This group suggests that perhaps M&M needs to be a permanent committee like Finance and Property.

Part 6 Conclusion

We have been surprised and energized by our time together. We have come to realize that the life here at First Presbyterian Church is tied tightly to and appreciated by this community.

We are a great Witness to Jesus Christ through our mission, our caring, our programs, our worship and our openness. As one community member said, “you do church the way it was meant to be.” We truly spread hope and compassion..

We believe that this report and suggestions will offer food for thought over the next few months. We see a real opportunity to carry forward the values of this faith community. We all desire to honor the past, but plan well for the future.

The Mini Mission Team

Dan Manley and Val Connor Co-facilitators

Aileen Ayers, Kathy Kemnitz, Tom Perkins, Mike Stuart and Lisa Morrill

1

1

Report

of

the

Mini

-

Mission

Team

First

Presbyterian

Church

of

Caledonia

Part

1

-

Introduction

Our

task

was

to

gather

data

about

Caledonia

and

the

local

area

and

to

get

a

feeling

where

First

Presbyterian

Church

is

in

this

community.

This

was

to

be

done

by

interviewing

the

mayor,

town

supervisor

and

school

superintendent

but

each

member

was

also

charged

with

talking

to

at

least

four

people

in

the

community

about

FPC

and

what

programs

those

outside

the

church

felt

made

an

impact.

During

the

past

several

weeks

,

members

of

the

team

met

with

the

Mayor

of

Caledonia,

Debbie

Davis,

Supervisor

of

the

Town

of

Caledonia,

Dan

Pangrazio

and

Superintendent

of

Caledonia

-

Mumford

Central

School,

Robert

Molisseni

and

asked

questions

regarding

their

particular

demographics

and

also

collected

economic

data.

Each

leader

was

asked

to

identify

the

challenges

facing

the

community

as

a

whole

and

the

resources

available.

They

were

asked

to

project

ahead

five

years

and

determine

where

they

envisioned

the

community.

They

were

also

as

ked

what

contributions

the

churches

can

make

and

what

were

the

unmet

needs

in

the

community?

The

team

also

gathered

responses

from

the

‘

man

-

on

the

street

’

interviews

and

shared

those

responses

with

the

group.

These

questions

covered

their

outside

knowled

ge

of

the

programs

and

mission

of

First

Presbyterian

Church

and

were

used

to

help

establish

where

the

church

stood

in

the

life

of

the

Caledonia

community.

Part

2

-

What

is

Happening

in

the

Community

The

school,

village

and

town

are

basically

all

suffering

w

ith

the

same

issues;

how

to

deal

with

New

York

State

’

s

property

tax

cap

and

at

the

same

time

offer

good

services

to

their

constituencies.

“

Doing

more

with

less

”

seems

to

be

the

standard

in

today

’

s

world.

All

three

are

dealing

with

dropping

population

num

bers.

There

is

little

industry

in

Caledonia

and

it

has

become

a

bedroom

community

for

people

working

in

Monroe

County.

1

Report of the Mini-Mission Team

First Presbyterian Church of Caledonia

Part 1- Introduction

Our task was to gather data about Caledonia and the local area and to get

a feeling where First Presbyterian Church is in this community. This was to

be done by interviewing the mayor, town supervisor and school

superintendent but each member was also charged with talking to at least

four people in the community about FPC and what programs those outside

the church felt made an impact.

During the past several weeks, members of the team met with the Mayor of

Caledonia, Debbie Davis, Supervisor of the Town of Caledonia, Dan

Pangrazio and Superintendent of Caledonia-Mumford Central School,

Robert Molisseni and asked questions regarding their particular

demographics and also collected economic data. Each leader was asked

to identify the challenges facing the community as a whole and the

resources available. They were asked to project ahead five years and

determine where they envisioned the community. They were also asked

what contributions the churches can make and what were the unmet needs

in the community?

The team also gathered responses from the ‘man-on the street’ interviews

and shared those responses with the group. These questions covered their

outside knowledge of the programs and mission of First Presbyterian

Church and were used to help establish where the church stood in the life

of the Caledonia community.

Part 2 - What is Happening in the Community

The school, village and town are basically all suffering with the same

issues; how to deal with New York State’s property tax cap and at the same

time offer good services to their constituencies. “Doing more with less”

seems to be the standard in today’s world. All three are dealing with

dropping population numbers. There is little industry in Caledonia and it

has become a bedroom community for people working in Monroe County.