2017-2018 Vision Board Report
The purpose of the Vision Board is to empower, equip, and evaluate the ministry and mission of First United Methodist Church in faithful response to God's call. Each year, the board crafts a vision statement for the ministry of the church and empowers the church's ministers to realize that vision.
The Vision Board was established in 2017. As it's first vision statement, the board chose "Celebrating Our Church Family." The board wanted to celebrate the blessings of our church, to identify who we are and what makes us unique. To help with this, several initiatives were started.
Initiatives included a once-per-month Minute for Ministry, an opportunity for someone to share personal testimony about their ministry during worship to let the congregation know the good work they are doing and invite them to get involved, and monthly potluck lunches after worship. The Vision Board also started a bulletin board where pictures from our church events could be posted. The Mutual Ministry Team commissioned the start of a new prayer ministry, which gives people the opportunity to come together after worship for a brief time of prayer and send out postcards to church families on our prayer rotation. We celebrated the gift of our building by having a special celebration dinner for our new kitchen and being more intentional about offering our space to community members, including local choirs and town events. During the year we had concerts, puppet shows, dinners, pumpkin carving, and even started a new Coffee House ministry; opportunities for fellowship, entertainment, and fun - getting to know each other and celebrating our church family.
Getting to know each other more deeply and becoming more aware of our gifts and blessings equips us to better serve our neighbors. In the Fall we undertook an ambitious goal of collecting 200 Flood Buckets for UMCOR to help with hurricane relief. Our church families were excited to build their buckets and local businesses and churches were challenged to donate as well. Our campaign was very successful and a testament to how much of an impact our small church in Westfield can have beyond our walls. Throughout the year we raised money for the Food Bank, donated socks to the Samaritan Inn, purchased emergency blankets, and more.
As this program year nears an end, the Vision Board will be meeting to evaluate all of the good work our church has done over the past year and start to craft a vision for next year. Where is God calling you? You can contact the chair of the Vision Board, Benjiman Durfee, at benjiman.durfee@gmail.com.
VISION BOARD 2017-2018
Chairperson: Benjiman Durfee
Pastor: Rev. Bruce Arbour
Treasurer: Sally Templeton
SPRC Rep.: Kevin Vance
Property Committee Rep.: Vacant
Lay Delegate to Annual Conference: Larry Griffith
Lay Leader: Kevin Mealey
Member-at-large: Janet Baush
Member-at-large: Judy Mealey
Member-at-large: Tracy Carne
Member-at-large: Tink Hartdegen
Member-at-large: Rob Draper