This Fall, we took the opportunity to gather for lunch and hear from you. These were times filled with laughter at our tables, reviewing God’s faithfulness and looking ahead together through year’s end.

A new element at these lunches was to survey the church in two main categories: our spiritual health and communications. As Elders and Deacons, we’ve taken time to review, discuss, and offer specific feedback in a variety of areas, such as:

• The answers we were surprised by.
• Answers that confirmed what we were already seeing/experiencing in our community.
• 3 Key Takeaways from the Spiritual Health Section.
• 3 Key Takeaways from the Communications Section.
• Recommended action steps moving forward.
• Additional notes from what we saw.

In the following pages, I summarize this feedback and map how we’ll move forward as a congregation. Thank you for taking the time to spend with us at lunch and offering your perspective on the church.

The data we were working from is included as a supplement so you can review it yourself and offer any additional perspective from which you believe we would benefit.

- Chris Jessee, Pastor

SPIRITUAL HEALTH

The Spiritual Health of Metro Life Church is a primary concern for the Elders of the Church. Each time our Elders and Deacons meet, our agenda is driven by what we see in Ephesians 4:12-13:

[12] to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, [13] until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 

Equipping: Ways that we can train for specific areas of ministry/service
Building Up: Sharing the gifts God has given to reach our community
Unification: Loving one another in the Biblical community
Maturity: Continual growth in faith and wisdom

In reviewing the feedback on your perspectives of the spiritual health of Metro Life Church, there was much for which to be grateful. We were most encouraged by how many understand the innumerable ways the Holy Spirit empowers our mission as a church. The desire to grow and mature in our faith is our lifelong call; this was quite notable. There is fertile ground for fruit-filled days ahead and a passion for developing deeper relationships through discipleship and accountability. We are also encouraged to see how the Lord is stirring our congregation to grow in practical ways to be equipped to share our faith.

Understanding our need to grow in updating the church on financial information and how your generosity is being put to kingdom purposes was helpful. We are already working to correct this in our services and several communications channels to better serve this aim. We see that generosity is at the heart of the gospel. We don’t give to receive. We give because we’ve so richly received. 

Regarding prayer, although we regularly see much engagement with our 21 Days of Prayer and week of fasting in January, we do recognize a desire to see this increase throughout the church's life. This is also the heart of those who gather each Sunday at 9:15 a.m. 

This leads to a final observation from this section: gospel transformation. We need to grow in capturing and disseminating testimonies of the gospel's transforming work throughout our congregation.

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications play a vital role in our community as a means of sending or receiving information related to church life. We desire to serve each of our members in such a way that it is clear how to engage with the various ways individuals can love, grow, and share through Metro Life Church. 

Recognizing that clear communications comfort those participating, we can consider internal processes and procedures by receiving your feedback. This will enable us to answer two questions:

1. How can we improve on what we’re already doing?
2. What are we doing that we shouldn’t be?

After recovering from the shock of how few people use social media and rejoicing at the benefit from the team's efforts behind ‘This Week at Metro’ (TWaM) for in-service updates, a few things caught our eye in your feedback.

The priority we heard from you regarding receiving information from the church is 1) texts, 2) TWaM, and 3) Email. There are several ‘other channels’ that we use for communications that could use refreshing:

• Printed Bulletins: Look for ways to revamp the information therein and refresh how this serves our congregation.
• Ministries: Grant access to direct contact (text/email) for the various needs of ministries such as Truth Quest, Students, Women’s, and Men’s.
• Serving: Educating the church about service needs and how to meet those needs.

One thing is clear from your feedback: you want to know what’s happening around Metro Life Church! It’s also apparent that you love serving one another and our local and global communities.  We are so grateful for that.

MOVING FORWARD

Regarding spiritual health, there are many ways to pursue the areas you want to grow as a congregation, such as Sunday mornings, community groups, ministries, discipleship, fellowship, and serving opportunities. Prayer, building relationships, and sharing our faith all represent a healthy spiritual community. Notably, 3 of the top 5 areas for growth were relational (Relationships for Spiritual Formation, Accountability, and Friendships). 

We affirm that all areas identified for spiritual growth are essential for us to pursue.  We see the need for a healthier discipleship experience within the church. This allows a number of these pursuits to be experienced wonderfully and practically in the lives of believers throughout our congregation. 

In terms of communications, we’ll be focused on improving and adjusting existing systems. This may mean that things get messy for a while as we learn new ways to use texts for various groups throughout the church and change our monthly printed bulletins and weekly email updates. Some of these have probably begun even as you’re reading this. We anticipate even more adjustments after the first of the year, 2024.

Lastly, can I ask something of each of you? Pray for us as a team. We have the privilege of leading a multi-generational, maturity-diverse congregation. Like you, we want God to be glorified in our congregation and community through our homes, workplaces, and campuses.

DID WE MISS ANYTHING?

Offer your input of observations to the leadership team by clicking here...

Download the full report, including supplemental data, by clicking here...