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New and Outgoing Leadership Team Members, and an Invitation!
The Leadership Team (LT) is delighted to welcome four new members — Sarah Gallop, David Peretti, Cindy Wankowicz, and Jennifer Wilson. We also said thank you and goodbye to three valued members — Patricia Brady, Dina Patel, and Dick Sayre. Our model of lay individuals rotating through varied terms is serving the LT well as fresh perspectives are brought into the mix each year. We are grateful to all who have served and will serve!While the composition of the LT membership changes each year, the work of the group is steadily grounded in FCCW’s purpose statement: we are a Christ-centered, nurturing community, growing in faith, serving in love and welcoming all with joy. This declaration provides continuity and guidance for the LT as it provides strategic oversight on behalf of our church community.
The LT enters its 4th year with a newly-approved organizational structure (and accompanying by-laws) that we believe is effective and will promote vibrancy in all areas of our mission. Some highlights of new approaches include “bottoms up” budgeting, lay leadership term limits to encourage broad participation, an online review process for Lead Pastor Will, and the adoption of a new “Safe Church” policy.
Here’s a sampling of overall concepts and specific priorities that the LT will focus on in the coming year:
- Continue to set overall direction and make long term decisions on behalf of the church
- Take strategic risks when feasible in order to catalyze our work
- Work to articulate FCCW’s (and therefore the LT’s) core values
- Be attuned to the relationships between the parts and the whole that comprise our faith community
- Continue to delegate day-to-day church operations to responsible parties, thereby developing and empowering lay leaders
- Create closer relationships with church ministries to see how they can be further supported in meeting their spiritual and programming goals
- Ensure that beloved fellowship events take place as appropriate
- Support the continuing process to transform Ripley Chapel
- Provide support to new staff who are attending to our beautiful facility
- Develop an “operations manual” with policies and procedures to serve as a guide for ministries
More than anything else, we will work to support our community’s relationship with God. Our overarching focus is to help our congregation strengthen its collective faith through individual and communal experiences inside and outside of our walls.
And now for the invitation: 1) all are welcome to attend LT meetings and we invite you to participate (the meetings are listed in the church calendar), and 2) we encourage you to suggest items for LT discussion that you feel are important to our church community. The LT represents you — the FCCW congregation.
—The Leadership Team: Judy Arnold, Will Burhans, Jane Ring Frank, Sarah Gallop, Deirdre Giblin, Bruce Lauterwasser, Margaret McIndoe, David Peretti, Ben Pulaski, Penny Sparrow, Taylor Tresselt, Cindy Wankowicz, Jennifer Wilson, Peter Woolford, Kathleen Zagata
