We have a called Intentional Interim Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Marvin Morgan, and are in the process of clarifying who we are:
- where we’ve been,
- who we are now, and
- how and where we believe God is calling us as we listen toward our future in Sedona and the Greater Verde Valley area.
There is a Transition Team in place … six members of the congregation … who are working through the Intentional Interim Ministry Process, engaging the congregation in questions of our heritage, connections, leadership, mission and future. Throughout the various areas of exploration, the team is seeking to identify the values, strengths, assumptions, challenges and hopes of this people called Church of the Red Rocks United Church Christ.
Michael Redhawk, Sara Johnson, Margaret Gramley, Lawrence Byrd, Bob Johnson, Betty Morgan
Survey
We began by distributing a survey asking members and participants to identify what attracted them to CRR, where they’ve been disappointed, their concerns and/or confusion, what they’d like to see changed and what they find most enjoyable and/or inspiring. Results were distributed to the congregation and after a series of dialogue sessions, a summary statement was written.
Themes:
10-25-22 Summary of themes that emerged through Sankofa Survey discussions
- There seemed to be a general sense of congruency between the results as presented in the summary and what people experience about CRR based on the conversations detailed above. In other words, there were no big surprises among this group. Some people were surprised at the responses in the survey about lack of transparency. A few noted that they didn’t quite understand this … that most information was readily available if people were interested and paid attention.
- Most people resonated with the themes of friendliness/welcoming/openness, though in the discussions a few risked sharing that they have not always felt welcomed.
The challenges for this church that emerged from these conversations seem to focus around three broad areas of diversity ….
- generational diversity at a couple of levels:
+ many miss the presence of children and youth;
+ others see a need for younger “mature” adults (or young seniors);
+ most love the presence of the music interns and wonder about engaging them more intentionally.
- theological diversity/spiritual perspectives:
+ people seem to acknowledge that there are diverse theological views but aren’t sure how to engage one another across that diversity.
- ways of engaging and serving the world:
+ several hope for a more active Social Justice ministry/presence in the community
+ several particularly enjoy all the ways we respond to communities of need in the area - homelessness (Hope House), Monday night suppers, senior needs for transportation (starting Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition)
Underneath all of these areas is a concern about the size of the church and the quality of membership engagement.
+ How do we attract and integrate new members in a community and congregation with a lot of turnover?
+ How do we engage folk who are “away” …. “snowbirds” or others who have found us on Facebook?
+ How do we function when the aging population can’t quite do as much as is needed?
Over the last few months, the Transition Team has been exploring the heritage or legacy of the Church of the Red Rocks … looking through historical documents, photo albums, Annual Meeting Reports, to discern the story of how Church of the Red Rocks came into being and journeyed through the last 62 years.
The Transition Team is also looking for ways to stay connected to those who “come and go.” As a “resort/retirement” community, we have many people who make this their home part of the year … usually fall, winter, early spring, but are in other homes and churches part of the year, too. We are exploring ways to strengthen our relationships with these “winter people.”
