New Beginnings Leader Training Postponed

As a congregation, we have entered the New Beginnings congregational-renewal program, sponsored by the Synod of the Northeast in coordination with Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation.

Last month we had a visit from Peter Wells, our New Beginnings Assessor, who spent a day touring the church and community and meeting with congregational leaders. He will soon present us with a thorough report on our congregation, its strengths and weaknesses, with an eye to charting our course into the future.

Central to the New Beginnings process – but also to the Mission Study that will lead to the choice of a new pastor – is a series of four small-group meetings that will take place beginning in March. The small groups – which the Session hopes will involve as many church members as possible – will examine key insights from the New Beginnings Assessment. There will be an opportunity for everyone to express their views and ideas about the sort of Christian community our church should become.

Previously we had announced a Friday evening and Saturday training for New Beginnings small group leaders, but the Synod New Beginnings Network has asked us to postpone that. The new leader-training event will take place on:

Friday evening, February 23 and Saturday, February 24

We are looking to have the small-group leaders attend both the Friday evening and Saturday sessions. Please contact our church office (732) 899-0587 if you are interested in either leading a small group or in hosting a small group in your home (leading and hosting are not the same thing: the leader facilitates the small-group discussion, while the host provides coffee and dessert and a comfortable place to meet). Some small groups will meet at the church and others in members’ homes.

Take a look at this brief video that describes the work of Hope Partnership through the New Beginnings process: