CoSM Notes: Wordsmithing and Inspiration

CoSM is pleased to have wrapped up months of work on a revised mission statement for the congregation. In May, we forwarded our recommendation to the board for its consideration. We are also nearing completion of an update to the bylaw appendix that includes committee descriptions. Our revision will bring the congregation’s organizational structure up to date, including a clear description of our council and cluster/committee structure.

CoSM is very excited about a new report from Michelle Ouellette on our Campaign for Growth. At our May meeting Michelle spoke about the results of Part I of the campaign, which began with an online congregational survey last year. The survey taught us a few things about how people have come to the fellowship, why many have stayed and why some have left. (View the 2015 survey report here: https://goo.gl/mHih6f and the original data here: https://goo.gl/p9Wqxs. Results from the 2016 survey will be shared at the meeting and appear online after that.)

The biggest takeaways were as follows:

  • Many of our current members first came because members invited them to come.
  • People who stayed placed tremendous value on the community they have found here.
  • Some of the people who have left expressed a lack of connection to the fellowship’s community.

We based our plan for Part I of the Campaign for Growth (covering September 2015 through April 2016) on these results, as we strove to first build a welcoming atmosphere and then to introduce people to our fellowship.

During Part I, the council integrated into its planning the campaign’s goals to (1) be welcoming to members and newcomers alike and (2) increase attendance at Sunday services and other UUFP events. Our hope was to find some success here and to build off that success in Part II, as we truly begin to increase our membership. Don’t miss the upcoming Annual Congregational Meeting, when Michelle Ouellette will share specific successes of Part I of the Campaign for Growth and lay out our next steps to build on our successes an raise the bar to build up our membership. This has been an inspirational year.

At our recent CoSM meeting, Michelle reported about the work of the Membership Cluster, comprised of New Membership, Caring committee, Greeters, Compassionate Cooks, and Hospitality. It was inspirational to hear how every person at their recent cluster meeting was thinking in terms of caring and embracing the people who attend and not letting people fall through the cracks. If this culture can spread, we could do amazing things. It could fundamentally shape who we are as a fellowship.

Best,
JoEl Miano, Chair of CoSM