SGT Final Report

Download the full report (pdf)

Excerpt:

Over the past decade, First Parish has enjoyed considerable growth in the number of people who have joined our community. This growth has required that we shift from a pastoral church (one in which the minister serves as the focal point for almost all church activities) to a more program-centered church (in which many people, including the minister(s), create and nurture programs that meet the wider array of interests and needs of parishioners)... While possible decisions around space needs prompted Parcom’s formation of the Sustainable Growth Team, it has become clear that completing the transition to a program church extends beyond having enough seats in the sanctuary.

Indeed, a host of experts on church growth advise that a church as vital and growing as ours should focus its priorities on staff, programs, and space needs — in that order — to ensure that it can sustain the quality of its programs as it strives to serve more members. The primary conclusion of the SGT is that First Parish has not completed its transition to a program-centered church. Our focus therefore has become one of developing a plan that would complete the transition as we also address related issues of growth.