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Current Step: Session Discernment

An update from Meg:

Dear Friends,

This is a note of gratitude to you, the University Presbyterian Church family, for participating in our feasibility study.

University Presbyterian Church is made up of approximately 612 households, and 247 of them provided input to our campaign consultants, who aggregated the data to help us discern the size and scope of a possible campaign. That’s an outstanding response—41%, compared to the typical 30% for churches! Well done!

Over the winter, the consultants engaged with 290 members of all ages through: 16 member interviews, 12 focus groups, 2 town halls, 4 staff interviews, and 1 staff focus group. We want to say thank you for giving your time, asking your questions, sharing your ideas, naming your hopes, and considering your own investment in what all this may mean.

Based on your spoken priorities and conservative math, the Campaign Readiness Team will bring a recommendation to Session in April. They may choose to reflect on it until May, but I would expect you to hear news of your elders’ decision this spring.

What I can tell you now is that the consultants found great vibrancy and health in their work with us.

Here are a few things that stood out in their report (which we can happily share with you after the Session has had a chance to digest it first):

• There is a high degree of trust in the congregation. You have confidence in our strong committee structure and our processes. You can depend on the leadership.
• There is financial health. Our giving has increased 25% since 2020 (defying national trends), we have no debt, we have a strong administration committee, an established endowment, and an effective online giving platform.
• While our membership numbers remain steady (about 1,200), we have welcomed an average of 63 new members each year over the past three years, and we maintain very clean membership rolls. There is high engagement of the congregation in our common ministry.

If you were at the family meeting in worship a few weeks ago, you may recall my joke that our consultants were shocked at the number of in-depth questions they received. Typically, a “Frequently Asked Questions” document isn’t added to the draft case for campaign support until later, once the scope and size of a campaign have been determined. But you, dear ones, are not a typical congregation. You are the kind of congregation that is going to kick every tire! You care deeply and invest fully. And I love you for it.

Please continue to keep the church in prayer as the Session discerns our next steps. And receive our heartfelt thanksgiving for your participation and for being who you are.

With gratitude and affection,

Meg Peery McLaughlin

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