Church Goals

Does First Congo have goals? This question arose during a conversation about goals for professional staff. Someone pointed out that it will naturally follow for the staff to have goals that align with the goals of the church. In order for that to happen, the church itself needs goals.

I think that the closest thing we have is the Vision Statement, (hereafter referred to as the Vision, http://www.firstcongmadison.org/vision.htm). The Vision is not an official guiding document for the church, since it has never been adopted as such. However, it is a useful working document and a great starting point in thinking about goals. Developed in 2005 by church leadership with input from the membership, the Vision contains "Five Year Planning Possibilities" for six "Acts of Faith." Those Acts of Faith are: Worship, Spiritual Growth, Learning, Mission, Faith Based Citizenship, and Welcoming. The five year planning possibilities themselves could be considered to be goals. One concern is that there are quite a few possibilities, (38 in total - although some do overlap).

I plan for the Executive Council to start looking carefully at the Vision Statement, and to start thinking about distilling out a few goals for the church in the near future. At some point, we will be asking for input from the membership.

Now seems like a good time. Can you suggest a goal or two for First Congo?