Listening Post Feedback
This year, at St. Barnabas, members of the council and an additional 30 regular church attendees took part in listening posts to identify our collective values and in what direction our congregation should be led. While the responses to the first question were easy to quantify, the answers to the remaining questions became increasingly varied and difficult to classify. Both specific answers as well as the number of people in agreement were considered in synthesizing data into emerging themes.
(1) What are your personal deepest values?
Nearly all participants identified Family, Community, and Relationships (or some combination) in their top 5 personal values. Discussion revealed the interchangeability of these terms felt by group members. This and additional values are as ranked below:
Family / Community / Relationships
Integrity
Service / Helping Others
Religion / Faith
Education
(2) Where, specifically, (outside of church) do you live out your values?
About half of the responses to this question were activities centered around the home. Participants also illustrated examples of community volunteering, general personal behavior, work, and other free time activities.
(3) Where at St. Barnabas do you live out your values?
Dozens of responses were recorded here, listing a plethora of church activities. Two themes emerged quickly from these answers, that their activities of involvement were either strongly tied to community / relationships or to helping others. This made up about ⅔ of those illustrated. Praise and music were brought up in addition to activities of growth (e.g. Bible studies). Some respondents disclosed living out their values by honoring their boundaries and changing priorities.
(4) Where do you see your values reflected in our mission, vision, and values?
No one area stood out among responses to this question. Respondents saw their values highlighted in the following ways (in descending popularity): outreach work, belonging, community / relationships, creativity, generosity, and living faith.
(5) What is the purpose of church?
There were some gray areas in grouping answers here, yet an overwhelming emphasis on community remained clear. After that, somewhat equally stressed were feelings of personal growth, religious growth, and religious practice.
(6) What do you most love about St. Barnabas?
Not surprisingly, community & connections quickly rose to the top of this list of responses. Group members also commented on the programming (e.g. groups and activities) offered as well as the way St. Barnabas makes them feel. Some mentioned the physical and geographical attributes of the church building, along with inclusivity, and finally, worship.
(7) What do you wish we (as a community) would do better at St. Barnabas?
The most popular sentiments in this area were ideas for embracing and increasing the presence of youth at St Barnabas. A close second were comments relating to the acknowledgement of individuals (e.g. volunteers, visitors, the ill). These themes made up ~55% of the comments agreed upon by group members. Lesser in popularity, yet notable were answers revolving around communication in the church and an increase in specific types of groups offered. Additionally, members brought up considerations for people with physical disabilities, membership numbers, and reaching the greater community.
(8) Where, either out in the world or in our church, do you see God doing a new thing? How can we get on board with what God is doing?
This set of questions was met with difficulty as responses tended to pertain to one or the other.
One clear area of opportunity came from area churches finding themselves closing and how we might merge ministry activities with other congregations (specifically, with former Peace Lutheran members). An additional theme that came up was in ideas of outreach opportunities made possible by the mortgage getting paid off early.
(9) What resources would we need to dive into what God is doing?
Ideas in this area included the following (in descending favor)
Investment in youth
Younger, more diverse leadership
Time and energy
Money
Staffing
Small groups & forums
Collaboration / brainstorming
If there is anything you’d like to share…?
Comments and ideas in this section focused on the following areas:
Youth
Communication
Care for seniors
Missing people
Staffing