Parish Meeting Update

Hey y’all, we had a great parish meeting last night!  Here is a little update.  If you don’t want to read the whole thing or flip through the slides, here are the action point take-aways…

1.  Restoration now has a weekly prayer meeting on Tuesday nights–  7:30pm at the church.  Each Tuesday has a regular, rotating theme.

2.  On March 17, we will install a temporary patio in the side yard.  Come help!

3.  We are not hiring a 3rd clergy at this time.

4.  We are considering a facility concept for a 350-400 person sanctuary at 1815 N. Quincy Street.

5.  Please park at the Washington-Lee parking lot. 

Now, for those who want more detail…  check out the slides and read on!

Staff Anecdotes

We started off with updates from each of the staff

• Louise shared that we serve over 100 children in our kid small groups every weekend!
• Kathy reminded us that everyone can see their giving statements online via CCB.  Just log in and check your giving report, send email to a friend, find someone’s address.  It’s all there.
• Matt introduced an internship program he is creating called Pilgrim Songs.  The desire is to develop more music leaders in the vein of what is presently happening at Restoration.  This will be a 9 month, unpaid program.  Contact Matt if you are interested.
• Liz will be leading a weekly prayer meeting on Tuesday nights at Restoration.
• Erin reported about a GREAT women’s retreat over the weekend, our developing pre-marital program, and the classes we are offering on communion and confirmation.

Financial Report

Jan Ryerson, our treasurer, talked about our finances.  The high level numbers are very good.  In the first 5 months of the fiscal year, we are at 127% of budgeted income and 84% of budgeted expenses.  More is being given then we expected and we are spending less than we anticipated.  This is a great testimony to the faithful generosity of our church and the careful planning of our staff.

Discipleship Task Force

The DTF had its 5th gathering in February.  They have presented several next steps for our church:

1. We just finished the sermon series on The Spiritual Formation of Paul.  It was a helpful encouragement for folks to pay attention to the process God is working to form you into the image of Christ for the sake of others.
2. We are reading Show Me the Way by Henri Nouwen as a church during Lent.
3. We are starting a weekly prayer meeting on Tuesday nights at 7:30pm.  There will be a similar theme for each week of the month:  1st Tues–  Jesus, worship, and healing prayer; 2nd Tues–  Restoration, facility, needs of our church; 3rd Tues–  Arlington, our local partners, making the county a better place to live;  4th Tues–  the world, our global partners, areas of crisis, persecution, and injustice;  5th Tues–  a workshop on how to pray
4. We are working to add content to our small group structure that might provide a ‘core curriculum’ for folks at Restoration.  We want small groups that are focused on both ends of the maturity continuum–  for people who are new to Jesus and church and also people who have been following Jesus for a while–  folks who are trying to make sense of their suffering and being faithful over the long haul.  I anticipate that over the next 2 years, we will create small group classes on bible, theology, church history, relationships, vocational theology, experiences in mission, experiences in prayer and a myriad of others.  My hope is that there would be a Restoration road map for people to follow as they go deeper in their relationship with Jesus.

Update on Hiring a 3rd Clergy

In June 2011, we created a new position description for a 3rd clergy person to join our staff team. We also created a hire team that would walk alongside David in the discernment process of who to hire.  We had over 45 applicants for the job.  We trimmed that list to 12.  David did a phone interview with all 12 of them, then recommended 5 to the hire team for a conference call interview.  The hire team ‘met’ with all 5 on the phone, then recommended 2 for ‘site visits’.  The first invitation was declined because the candidate decided to pursue more education.  We ended up bringing in 3 candidates for live visits.  The position was offered to one of them and he declined to take it because of another opportunity.  The hire team decided that the other 2 candidates were not the right fit for Restoration.

At the beginning of this month, I decided to say, we are done.  We thought this was the opportunity that God was calling us to pursue.  We ran a very good process, that was well-covered in prayer.  We met people that we really liked.  We were clear on the folks who were not a good fit.  But, at the end of 7 months of trying, it is clear that God did not have someone to fill this particular role at our church.  So, we have shut it down in order to create some space to think, re-group, pray, and reflect on what we need.  As that becomes clear, we will write new position descriptions and begin a new hire process.  We are aware of our need for staff to give attention to our youth and to our communications.

Long Range Facility Team

I gave a brief history of how Restoration came to worship and then own 1815 N. Quincy St.  You can read it here.

In January, Restoration began a conversation with the county about  a facility and parking concept for 1815 N. Quincy Street–  it would include a 350-400 person sanctuary, a fellowship hall, and beautiful outside gathering spaces.  We would maintain our 3 service format to keep small church feel.  During construction we would need to meet off-site.  And we need to maximize the use of our shuttle to the Washington-Lee parking lot.  This is very exciting!!

What is being done:

1. There was a dreaming session with the LRFT, vestry, and staff at the end of January before the vestry retreat.  We are in an on-going conversation about space needs assessment.
2. We issued a Request For Qualifications and received submissions from 10 architecture firms.  The LRFT met to choose 5 from whom they will submit a Request for Proposal.  By the end of March, those 5 firms will have the opportunity to make a pitch to the LRFT and staff.  We hope to select an architect by the end of the month.
3. Concurrently, the vestry is talking about our plan for fund-raising.  We will talk about it with the congregation after Easter.
4. We are searching for a temporary facility that we can use during construction.  We have contacted churches, meeting halls, and hotels.  We do not have anything definite to report at this time.
5. There will be 2 neighborhood meetings in the spring and neighbors will be able to give us their feedback on the project.

What should you do?

1. Pray.  Join us for prayer on Tuesday evenings.  Pray on your own.  Pray in your small groups.  Pray for creativity, for wisdom, for favor, to be good neighbors, for fund raising, for people to love Jesus because of this building project.
2. Park at Washington-Lee and ride the shuttle.  We want to be good neighbors and to take as much traffic off Quincy Street as we can.  It’s a five minute walk or a 1 minute ride.
3. Come to the gatherings we will have to talk about fund raising and drawings.
4. Pray

I love this church.

-David