First Christian Church

1
First Christian Church

• First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has
  considerable strength and stability. It has also
  experienced much transition in recent years.
  Thus, the leadership believes that the time is
  right to undertake a process of self-examination
  and discernment that will help First Christian
  Church build on its strengths and move into the
  future with renewed purpose and vision.

2
First Christian Church

• 5 Step Process
• 1. Development of a contextual analysis

3
First Christian Church

• 5 Step Process
• 1. Development of a contextual analysis
• 2. A time of discernment through prayer

4
First Christian Church

• 5 Step Process
• 1. Development of a contextual analysis
• 2. A time of discernment through prayer
• 3. Development of a future story (vision)

5
First Christian Church

• 5 Step Process
• 1. Development of a contextual analysis
• 2. A time of discernment through prayer
• 3. Development of a future story (vision)
• 4. Development of a strategic plan

6
First Christian Church

• 5 Step Process
• 1. Development of a contextual analysis
• 2. A time of discernment through prayer
• 3. Development of a future story (vision)
• 4. Development of a strategic plan
• 5. A period of coaching

7
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Eugene, OregonContextual AnalysisPart of a
Visioning ProcessCoached by Dick Hamm
8
Eugenes Origins

• Eugene, Oregon traces its beginnings to Eugene
  Franklin Skinner, who settled in the area in
  1846. His cabin was a trading post and in 1850
  became a post office. He founded the city in 1862
  and ran a ferry across the Willamette at the site
  of the present Ferry Street.
• The University of Oregon was started in 1876
  (after Columbia College failed due in part to a
  series of fires). It has about 16,000
  undergraduates. Other colleges in the area
  include Lane Community College and Northwest
  Christian College, which was begun by the
  Stone-Campbell Movement in 1895 as Eugene
  Divinity School.

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Eugene, Oregon

• Today, the Visioning Committee describes Eugene
  as generally a liberal community, though there
  are conservative communities nearby. The
  population is very diverse economically in terms
  of rich, poor and everything in between and
  religiously, with most religious traditions
  represented. The city has a strong focus on
  education at all levels from primary through
  higher education. The University of Oregon is a
  powerful cultural influence in Eugene. The
  downtown has a strong Hippies vibe from the
  1960s. Nearby Springfield, however is a much
  more conservative city.

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Eugene, Oregon

• Eugene covers parts of five zip codes 97401,
  97402, 97403, 97404, 97405, and 97408. Percept
  reports high growth for Eugene between 1990 and
  2000 (16 compared to the national average of
  13), but slower growth during the next ten years
  (8 rather than the 10 projected nationally).
  Except for 97405, the percentage of residents
  described by Percept as Affluent is far below
  the national average of 15.
• The city is comprised mostly of Middle
  Americans (solidly middle class) and Young
  Coming (young people who are at the beginning of
  their professions but have not yet made very
  much money). Racially, the city is predominantly
  white, with the second largest group being Asians
  and very few African Americans. Culturally,
  Hispanics are, compared to the national average,
  a relatively small but growing presence.

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Eugene, Oregon

• Generationally, Millennials (4-24 years of age,
  born between 1983 and 2003) and Survivors
  (25-45 years of age, born between 1962 and 1982)
  each comprise about 30 of the population,
  totaling together 59.
• The education level of the population is very
  high, which again reflects the large number of
  college students and the faculty and staff of
  those institutions. The number of persons with
  college degrees and post-graduate degrees is
  extremely high (there are half-again as many
  post-graduate degrees as the national average).
  The average household income is slightly above
  the national average, yet there is a relatively
  high percentage (17) of people under the poverty
  line (15,000) compared to the national average
  (14).

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Eugene, Oregon

• A very high percentage of people in Eugene have
  no faith involvement (44, compared to a national
  average of 35), reflecting the fact that
  religious disestablishment has progressed further
  in Oregon than in most parts of the country.
  Still, about the same as the national percentage
  are strongly involved in religion while a much
  smaller percentage than nationally are only
  somewhat involved. Thus, there are primarily two
  groups religiously speaking those who are
  strongly involved and those who are not involved
  at all.

13
Eugene, Oregon

• In addition, about twice the national average
  (16 compared to 8) are involved in
  non-Christian religions. This means that a
  relatively small proportion of the population is
  open to Christian faith. This represents a sharp
  change from 25 years ago and helps explain the
  drop in total numbers of members at First
  Christian. Another factor in the drop in
  membership has been the suburban spread of the
  city and the fact that many people tend not to
  come downtown. A third factor is the presence of
  Disciples congregations in the suburbs.

14
First Christian Church

• First Christian Church was officially begun in
  1866 with 51 members, but there were meetings for
  worship and communion as early as 1861, a year
  before the city was officially founded.
• The congregations first building was at 9th
  (Broadway) and Pearl Sts. From the beginning the
  church had strong mission ties locally and
  overseas, especially in the Congo. The present
  core building was erected at this site in 1911.
• By the early 20th century, the church was
  reported to have 400 in Sunday School and 1000
  members! However, attendance waxed and waned
  through Depression, wars and prosperous times.

15
First Christian Church

• Through the years, First Christian Church has
  been a loyal Disciples of Christ congregation. A
  typical Disciples congregation, it is
  theologically moderate to liberal. This
  congregation understands that taking the Bible
  literally (as so many Christians do today) is not
  always the same thing as taking it seriously.
  Unlike many congregations in the community, women
  are welcome in positions of leadership including
  eldership, committee leadership and pastoral
  leadership. The congregation has a longstanding
  tradition of open membership and an open Table.
  The congregation is open and affirming by
  practice.

16
First Christian Church

• The building is partially handicapped
  accessible and has access to adequate parking to
  accommodate current worship services and regular
  programming. The congregation has a building
  endowment fund of about 750,000 and numerous
  special invested funds totaling about 450,000
  plus a scholarship fund of about 120,000 making
  a total of a bit over one million in invested
  funds.

17
First Christian Church

• Senior ministers serving First Christian since
  1945
• 1945-49 Hugh McCallum
• 1949-59 Carroll Roberts
• 1960-74 Carlton Buck
• 1975-80 Benny Boling
• 1982-90 John Moore
• 1991-present Dan Bryant
• Senior pastors have tended to stay with First
  Christian Church for full-term ministries (6-8
  years or more).

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• DISCIPLES YEARBOOK CHART Statistics for
  1995-2005
• Partici- Bap-- Trans- Worship SS
  CWF Local Local Total
• pating tisms fers Attend Attend
  Memb Ops Cap Outreach
• 1985 380 3 8 185
  100 0 200,000 1,785
  47,675
• 1986 380 10 34 220
  120 0 204,700 3,733
  24,643
• 1987 387 8 29 222
  85 103 170,000 35,000
  32,000
• 1988 391 1 20 224
  92 150 194,602 7,504
  33,026
• 1989 411 5 38 225
  96 153 211,427 33,576
  33,462
• 1990 388 8 19 210
  100 150 187,569 1,697
  30,514
• 1991 343 2 22 215
  100 110 226,904 3,048
  36,004
• 1992 347 9 30 205
  116 116 215,541 32,065
  42,614
• 1993 354 3 18 183
  107 65 239,418 25,240
  43,027
• 1994 352 5 15 191
  92 45 264,630 132,095
  38,402
• 1995 312 4 15 198
  92 42 266,917 28,607
  22,376
• 1996 333 11 21 188
  90 44 192,427 0
  9,978
• 1997 295 4 11 227
  100 36 284,573 245,000
  24,638
• 1998 305 5 8 212
  110 60 305,716 63,267
  31,498
• 1999 316 4 26 221
  117 35 359,641 51,575
  38,930
• 2000 270 1 20 207
  102 54 296,334 36,796
  19,106

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First Christian Church

• 1. The numbers of baptisms rise and fall, but
  have remained in single digits for almost all of
  the past twenty years. This is an indication that
  the congregation typically baptizes children
  rather than actively seeking adult converts also.
  It should be noted that many Boomers and some
  Survivors are open to the possibility of
  connecting or reconnecting with a church through
  baptism.

20
First Christian Church

• 2. Christian Womens Fellowship numbers have been
  steadily dropping in recent years, which is
  typical of most Disciples congregations. The
  original CWF format was developed at a time
  when most women were stay-at-home-moms and has
  not translated well into an era when most women
  are working outside the home. Typically, older
  women continue to enjoy the fellowship they have
  developed over the decades, but younger women are
  uninterested or incapable of participating.
  Nevertheless, the CWF and other Disciples Women
  programs continue to offer important ministry,
  mission, service, education and relationships for
  some women.

21
First Christian Church

• 3. First Christian Church has remained a
  congregation deeply committed to outreach, though
  the proportion of the budget and the spending
  power of the dollars going to outreach has
  steadily dropped over the past 20 years (2005 and
  2006 were exceptional years).

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• 4. The congregation has typically sustained a
  fair number of annual additions by transfer, but
  these have been required to keep the worship
  attendance fairly constant. This is because
• a) Members die.
• b) Significant numbers of First CC members are
  highly mobile and many move away to other
  communities.
• c) There have been occasional conflicts in the
  life of the congregation which have occasioned
  some peoples departures. Conflicts are common in
  congregations and may be between individual staff
  members, a minister and the congregation, or
  between members and or ministers over decisions
  about program, direction and/or theological
  differences. There is not a high rate of conflict
  in First CC.
• d) The congregation is not effectively organized
  to retain all those who join the church.

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• 5. The congregation demonstrates a pattern of
  plateauing over the past 20 years at a maximum
  worship attendance of around 200. This is typical
  of a congregation that has a pastor-centered
  style of organization (pastor-centered is not a
  criticism of a pastor, it is a descriptive phrase
  used to differentiate between a number of
  congregational sizes and the types of
  organization needed to sustain those sizes
  including family church, pastor-centered
  church, program-centered church, and
  corporate church). 200-225 in worship
  constitutes a kind of glass ceiling which,
  though an invisible barrier, is about the maximum
  number that a pastor-centered congregation can
  consistently support. More will be said about
  this.

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First Christian Church

• 6. Sunday School attendance has remained
  remarkably stable from 1985-2005, which is
  atypical of most congregations in all mainline
  denominations.
• 7. The congregations regular giving
  (stewardship) has remained stable in real dollars
  through the years, dipping only during times of
  transition or conflict (such declines in giving
  during times of transition and conflict are
  typical of most congregations).

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• Age Gender Chart
• Age M F Married
  Single Divorced Widowed
• 0-4 10 3
• 5-9 10 11
  
• 10-14 5 6
  
• 15-19 9 8 0
  17 0
  0
• 20-29 7 18 7
  13 0
  0
• 30-39 5 10 9
  3 1
  0
• 40-49 12 23 24
  4 0
  0
• 50-59 24 41 30
  10 2
  1
• 60-69 14 26 26
  4 0
  1
• 70-79 17 26 29
  0 4
  6
• 80-89 6 26 29
  0 4
  6
• 90 3 8 2
  0 1
  5
• 112 206 156
  51 12
  19
• The age-gender chart shows all generations are
  present, but the
• congregation is top-heavy in age. There are 92
  adults under 50 years of age
• and 191 adults over 50 years of age. This means
  that the congregation is the

26
First Christian Church

• Map
• The map, which features pins representing
  100 of the households of the church,
  demonstrates that far more than half the
  congregation is over 60 years of age. Remembering
  that the largest generational groups in the city
  are is 4-25 years of age (Millenials) and 25-45
  years of age (Survivors), and recognizing that
  most of those people who have been moving into
  the community since 1990 are of that same
  generational grouping, it is clear that First
  Christian Church has not been effectively
  reaching people of that age group. While the city
  as a whole has been growing steadily, First CC
  has been standing still numerically.

27
First Christian Church

• Youth Group
• The youth groups at First CC meet most
  often on weekends for monthly lock-ins and
  programming is provided for all ages. The program
  is connected to the Regional youth and Regional
  camp and conference program. Vacation Bible
  School has typically attracted about 30 children
  and youth in the summer, though it is not
  currently being held. There is an annual mission
  trip.
• The CYF involves about 17 youth and Chi-Rho
  involves about 15.

28
First Christian Church

• Mens and Womens Ministries
• The mens group (Vision Builders) is a group
  that meets to do repair work on the church and
  occasionally on a home. The group enjoys
  fellowship.
• As mentioned above, the womens
  ministries group has been declining in numbers in
  recent decades. Nevertheless, this group provides
  crucial support to the overall mission of the
  congregation. Most members are over 65 years of
  age for reasons mentioned above. The CWF meets
  monthly. There are also two non-CWF circles of
  women, including some younger women, meeting
  weekly.

29
First Christian Church

• Length of membership by survey
• 0-5 years 115 (37)
• 6-10 years 70 (22)
• 11-20 years 68 (21)
• 21 years 60 (19)
• This chart shows that a remarkable number of the
  members have joined in the past five years (about
  one-third).

30
First Christian Church

• The congregation is comprised of mostly white
  collar workers and professionals. The large
  numbers of educators is not surprising in the
  face of the fact that Disciples have always
  attracted educators with our emphasis on faith
  and reason and Northwest Christian College is
  strongly related to FCC.

31

• Staffing
• Staff patterns have been very stable.
• Based on a standard consultants rule of
  thumb, First
• Christian is staffed for decline. Generally, a
  congregation
• should have at least one fulltime minister for
  the first 150
• participating members plus another full-time
• minister/program person for each additional 100.
  With
• 262 participating members, First has 1 ½
• ministers/program staff rather than the two
  required for
• maintenance. Growth would suggest more than two
  full
• time (or equivalents).

32
First Christian Church

• Small Groups for Adults in Which Participation Is
  Emotionally Significant
• Prime Time SS class 25 Early Bird group
  11
• Helping Hand Room 9 Forbidden Hour 4
• Good Samaritan 5 Naomi Circle 9
• Vision Builders 17 Sarahs
  Circle 5
• Loyal Friends SS class 9 CWF 24
• Shawl Ministry 4 Choir (traditional
  service) 30
• Quilters 6 Readers Theater 4
• Soup Kitchen 10 New Celebration Singers 7
• Power Light 7 Thursday morning group
  6
• Bell Choir 17 Newsletter group
  4
• Sojourners 7 Office Volunteers 10
• After New Celebration discussion 27

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• There are 23 groups for adults with combined
  membership of
• approximately 252 to meet the spiritual and
  social needs of
• individuals. Since there is much overlap in these
  groups, we
• estimate perhaps 130 total actual participants in
  such groups (which
• means that about half of the membership has no
  small group
• involvement in which participation is emotionally
  significant). The rule
• of thumb is 7 groups per 100 participating
  members. At First CC, this
• would suggest a total of 19 small groups for 262
  participating
• members, so by this guideline the congregation
  has an adequate
• number of small groups. However, most of these
  small groups are
• designed for current members (especially Silents
  and older), which
• means there are fewer places for new members and
  potential new
• members to connect with the congregation in a
  relatively easy and
• safe way. This is especially important to note in
  a congregation that
• practices associational evangelism (that is,
  people are invited into
• association with First Christian Church where
  they hear the Gospel
• from the preacher, the choir, the classes and so
  forth and experience
• the Gospel in small groups.). In addressing this
  matter, planners will
• want to pay special heed to developing small
  groups that address the

34

• Evangelism
• According to the Vision Team, the congregation
  considers Eugene as its primary evangelism area,
  with Springfield and other adjacent areas as
  secondary targets. The congregation may need to
  become more intentional about reaching into the
  suburbs.
• Associational evangelism is the most natural
  approach for First CC. Part of the attraction of
  First CC for many is the fact that it does engage
  in associational evangelism rather than the more
  aggressive tactics of many fundamentalist
  churches. Nevertheless, the congregation could be
  much more intentional and consistent in its
  evangelistic outreach. Small groups are key in
  this regard.

35

• Also key is specifically and intentionally
  reaching out to new young families in the
  suburbs. Some of those to whom First needs to
  reach out are young people who have never had a
  church connection. Another group is comprised of
  the de-churched people who have been abused,
  or felt abused, by previous experiences of church
  and those who are unaware that there are
  non-fundamentalist approaches to the Bible, faith
  and the life of the Spirit.

36

• Outreach
• The congregation considers the downtown area as
  its core local outreach target area (outreach
  in terms of charity and justice activities). The
  congregation has a significant list of local
  outreach involvements through various local
  organizations.
• The congregation supports Disciples causes
  through the Disciples Mission Fund, the Region,
  Week of Compassion, Reconciliation, etc.

37

• When asked why people belong to First Christian
  Church, the answers given by the Vision Team
  Committee were (in order)
• 1) Dans sermons (10)
• 2) Progressive, intellectually stimulating
  theology with freedom (10)
• 3) Non-condemning approach to Christianity (10)
• 4. Active childrens program (6)
• 5) Acceptance and hospitality (6)
• 6) Music and building architecture (5)
• 7) A pastor who is a leader in social justice (5)

38

• Asked what things the congregation does best,
  the Vision Team responded
• 1) Public worship
• 2) Childrens education/youth ministry
• 3) Sermons (preaching and teaching)
• 4) Small group ministry
• 5) Diversity and acceptance of all peoples
• 6) Local outreach/community visibility

39

• The things identified by the Vision Team as
  those the
• congregation does least well are
• 1) Portions of the public worship (could
  emphasize more mystery and awe)
• 2) Adult and young adult Christian education
• 3) Better and more complete communication
• 4) Better fellowship and community building
• 5) Evangelism
• 6) Global outreach

40

• Asked to identify significant signs of
  renewal, the Vision Team responded
• 1) Worship and Wonder
• 2) Have addressed theology well through
• personal education
• 3) We are opening and affirming, which is
  bringing new interest
• 4) The New Celebration service
• 5) Willingness of the congregation to go through
  this visioning process

41

• Asked about signs of decline, the Vision Team
  identified
• 1) Aging population in the second service
• 2) Declining worship attendance
• 3) Ongoing struggles with finances
• 4) Core volunteer burn-out issues
• 5) Decreased a ministerial staff position from
  full-time to half-time.

42

• The self-image of the congregation is described
  by the Vision Team as
• Concerned about dwindling attendance.
  Progressive. Support for the marginalized.
  Loyalty of older members. An overall positive
  self-image with concern for the heart of Eugene.

43

• Conflict
• Sources of conflict in recent years have
  included issues around remaining downtown, being
  open and affirming, our understanding of the
  Bible, deciding to have two services, tension
  between doing outreach (charity and justice) and
  doing evangelism, malfeasance around 1990, and
  personnel matters.

44

• Capital Needs
• There is an identified list of capital needs,
  improvements and repairs including the elevator,
  windows, endowment for building maintenance, bell
  tower, new entrance from the parking lot, master
  plan phases 4-5 (phase 1-3 have been completed).
  Some fresh work will need to be done on this in
  light of the ultimate future story.

45

• Desired outcomes of this process (named by the
  Vision Team)
• 1) A clear concrete written action plan to
  accomplish the following
• 2) the church gains consensus on core values and
  future direction (eg. social justice, liberal
  theology, personal transformation or all three).
  A precisely stated mission.
• 3) Internal personal experience of God that will
  lead to external service to the world.
• 4)church growth especially young adults and
  families.
• 5)services for the aged, which is a large part
  of our congregation
• 6) revitalized, revamped program process fueled
  by passionate people.

46

• Governance
• The congregation has appropriately sized
  governance bodies (15 on the board, less than 10
  on other governance bodies) though attendance at
  board meetings is somewhat low. Most functional
  committees are functioning (except Program).
• It may be that an Annual Planning Event could
  help reduce the number of meetings required of
  various committees/ministries while enhancing
  coordination of planning and events. (Hamm has
  information about this approach.)
• The policies of the church (building use,
  wedding, etc.) are in good order. The position
  descriptions for ministerial staff are adequate.

47

• Reflections from Dr. Hamm (which the Vision Team
  has affirmed)
• First Christian Church is a healthy and diverse
  congregation. The membership is committed to the
  Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and has
  commitment to local and world outreach.
• The congregations theological stance is a
  reflection of important core values inherited
  from its Disciples parentage and which the
  congregation must teach and regularly reaffirm if
  they are to be maintained. First CC represents an
  important theological and spiritual voice in a
  spiritual wilderness of American fundamentalism.
  It is important that the congregation remain tied
  to its Disciples roots and that it choose
  ministers who reflect this theological
  perspective, and that it teach the content of
  this heritage.

48

• A question that has confronted First Christian
  before is whether or not to remain downtown. The
  congregation has decided to stay at least twice
  and is committed to staying now. However, it
  seems to this observer that the congregation must
  now decide whether it will continue to focus
  primarily on the downtown of Eugene or whether it
  will also seek to reach people in the suburbs.
• Another fundamental question that now confronts
  First CC is this what size will the church
  become? The congregation has pressed against the
  upper limits of a pastor-centered size church
  during the past 30 years.

49

• Consciously or unconsciously, there are
  differing desires on the part of the membership.
  There are members who would like to see the
  congregation provide a much broader array of
  programs (which in turn requires a larger
  congregation with more resources and a move
  toward a program-centered style of organizational
  life and ministry) and reach significantly larger
  numbers of people. Others prefer to maintain the
  intimacy of a smaller congregation (the current
  size and the current pastor-centered style of
  organizational life and ministry).

50

• On the one hand, it is frustrating to members
  who want much broader programmatic offerings to
  see the congregation repeatedly come to the
  breakthrough point of nearly 225 in worship
  only to fall back into current patterns
  (pastor-centered-style). On the other hand, those
  who want a smaller fellowship (less than 200 in
  worship) begin to feel uneasy or even threatened
  whenever the congregation nears the
  breakthrough point. Since there are now two
  worship services, this sense of threat does not
  come from seeing either worship service too full
  (there is plenty of room in both services). The
  sense of threat comes from seeing many new
  members that one does not know personally.

51

• The good news is that the educational level of
  the current congregation compares very well with
  the educational level of those moving into
  Eugene. This means that many of these new
  residents are naturally compatible with the
  current members, at least as far as education is
  concerned.
• How large could or should First Christian Church
  grow? The lovely facilities could handily
  accommodate total worship attendance of 600 in
  three services, which implies participating
  membership of perhaps 900 or one thousand. Beyond
  that, the congregation would have to move to a
  new location, rebuild on site or, probably
  better, start a new Disciples congregation in
  another part of the city (again). (The main
  limiting factors would be parking and other
  facilities beyond the sanctuary.)

52

• However, the faithful question is not simply,
  What do we as members of First Christian Church
  want for ourselves (more intimacy or more program
  choices, tastes great, less filling). The
  larger question, which needs to be answered
  carefully and prayerfully and which this
  discernment process will seek to answer, is this
  What does God desire for First Christian
  Church? Thus, this process is driven by
  discernment rather than purely by democracy.

53

• To remain ambiguous about these questions
  (about what size God is calling FCC to become) is
  to invite a low-level (mostly unconscious)
  conflict that has no resolution and that will
  result in frustration for all. Typically, if
  congregations do not make a conscious decision
  about this, ministers will leave after a time
  either because the church refuses to grow beyond
  the barrier or because those members who want the
  congregation to grow through the barrier will
  begin to blame the pastor for the fact that the
  church is not growing into the next level.
  Stability ultimately brings stagnation, decline
  and death.

54

• The pastor-centered and program-centered
  approaches each have their strengths and
  weaknesses. One is not automatically better than
  the other, except as it is discerned that God
  desires one or the other for the congregation.
  Also, the fact that the needs of younger people
  get addressed does not necessitate that older
  members do not get their needs met. However,
  meeting the needs of each generation will mean
  doing some new things and doing some things
  differently.
• Another issue that needs to be addressed soon
  is the need to promote gifts to the
  congregations endowment.

55

• May God bless this marvelous congregation as you
  seek Gods counsel in these matters. I am
  thankful to be on the journey with you.

56
SO NOW WHAT?We dream dreams and see
visions! Acts 217
57
HOW DO WE DO THAT?

• By engaging in prayer and thinking together.