God Moments re: co::Lab

by Jerry Stuart

 

Following the January meeting, pastors and leaders from the three churches approached their respective congregations and Church Administrative boards to present the benefits of sharing the cost of a discernment process with each of the other churches. After discussion and board approval, Rev. Jim Randall from Auxano was hired in February 2011. 

Rev. Randall’s plan was to take representatives from the 3 churches through a discernment process nicknamed co::Lab (collaboration lab). The discernment program took the co::Lab team (3 Pastors and 36 members) through a structured 9-month process of energetic interactive meetings.

It was clear from the first meeting that the three churches had so much common ground between them that they became a team immediately.  Members were comfortable speaking frankly and openly about their challenges and fears. We were a family – a family with a shared passion for facing the future not simply to survive, but to FLOURISH and GROW! Monthly progress reports were provided to each congregation by their representatives.  

At the completion of the co::Lab process, a master presentation was created by the co::Lab members to include the Imagine vision brochure and a combined 3-church meeting presentation of the co::Lab findings and recommendations. The recommendation was to unify the three churches into a new United Methodist community of faith. The presentation was coordinated and held at the Carlisle High School auditorium. The current state of our churches and congregations was reviewed, the impending storm or death tsunami that we faced, and a unified vision for the future centered on the strategy concepts of Worship, Connect, Serve, and Grow.

In the months after the presentation, the congregations were invited to numerous open meetings within their respective churches to openly discuss the challenges and solutions presented from the co::Lab.  A second combined congregational meeting was scheduled at the high school to vote for or against the unification plan. On March 4, 2012 at Carlisle High School, each respective congregation met under the supervision of our District Superintendent, Dennis Keller, and cast a deciding vote to unify Allison, First, and Grace UMC churches.

The talents and gifts of our United Methodist congregations tripled that inspiring day. The journey had begun!  The next phase was to create an equally represented Transition Team to begin the process of physically, financially, and administratively bringing the three churches together.