Hi First Presbyterian Church,

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! My forthcoming May newsletter article provides an update about our progress on our Faith Forward initiative. So I want to make sure you see it and am giving you a sneak-peak of that article now. Here it is!

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Happy May! It’s important that the congregation stays continually informed about the progress we’re making through our Faith Forward initiative. As you heard during the February 11 congregational debrief, the Faith Forward initiative identified four strategic objectives for our church:

• Everyday Faith - to reimagine discipleship to become highly personal, relational, and biblical. 

• Groups and Gatherings - to provide safe places, times, and gatherings for people to connect on the journey.

• Pittsford Connects - to reimagine our campus to become a safe place that meets our neighbors’ “first” needs (physical, social, and emotional).

• Re-align to our True North - to reduce the amount of organizational inefficiencies while refining structures to support what matters the most.

These objectives were announced at the debrief to inform you about the goals we’re aiming to accomplish. No policies have been updated nor significant actions taken as of yet. Until the Session decides to make any updates or changes, it’s business as usual. So… what have we actually done about these objectives since February 11? Well, the Session has decided to take on one objective at a time and is currently prioritizing the fourth objective to “Re-align to our True North.” Toward that end, we are studying a decision-making and operational concept called “policy governance,” which was developed by the psychologist and organizational theorist John Carver. The Deacons and the Trustees have been invited into this study. We are also talking to other churches who have refined their organizational structures so we can learn from their experiences.

I am also working with some of the Elders on a few ideas to develop our “Everyday Faith” objective. However, this is in the very nascent stages of development and has not been discussed by the Session as a whole nor by any Committees.

As I said, it is very important that you know that the momentum of the Faith Forward initiative moves ahead and that you are aware of what that forward motion entails. The Session is discussing ways that we can keep the channels of communication open with the congregation about this vital work. As always, we are hopeful about the future for First Presbyterian Church, knowing that we’re following God’s leading. 

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Peace to you,

Pastor Aaron