Late last year, the Minnesota Conference UCC invited our congregation to be part of a new church vitality program. The yearlong Crossroads program will help us answer the question: “What is God calling us to do and be…TODAY?”
We’re working with others in the conference and with a consultant to “look inward” at who we are and how we can “turn outward.” We’re talking about our dreams for the future and where we go from here. Crossroads will build on work we’ve already done in recent years, preparing us for new forms of ministry and leadership in response to a changing world.
A seven-member Crossroads Team, plus our pastor, meets the first Thursday of the month, with special meetings as needed. Watch this page for updates on our progress.
The Crossroads Team has heard from the congregation that our church building (and parking lot) could be a great asset to the community. People have proposed ideas for sharing a portion of our space with another organization. We’re hearing from other churches that moving beyond a single use for church buildings is a trend that […]
We asked you to identify experiments we can conduct as a congregation for connecting as a faith community, and you responded with gusto! We got lots of ideas for building stronger relationships with each other: intimate group dinners, small group discussions on faith, all-ages sing-alongs and more. We also heard your interest in hiring a […]
Thanks to everyone who weighed in with their votes on the ideas and suggestions offered by fellow congregation members as experiments to improve our relationships with each other and with the community. After collecting all the votes, a few things became clear: there is a strong desire to reconnect on an intimate level with each […]
Many thanks to those who stayed for the last 15 minutes of Sunday’s service for a time of visioning, discernment and prioritization of the ideas and suggestions that members of the congregation wrote on Post-it Notes as part of the Crossroads initiative. Thirty-eight people submitted responses to our request to choose three priorities from the […]
You can help set priorities for Falcon Heights Church. The Oct. 6 worship service will be structured with the last 15 minutes of the service transitioning from the sanctuary to the Gathering Room. Led by the Crossroads Team, this will be a time of visioning, discernment and prioritization of the ideas and suggestions that members […]
Thank you to everyone who has come to the first book discussions of Dwight Zscheile’s “The Agile Church.” The author (at right in photo) joined us at dinner Wednesday before the discussion. It’s not too late to join the remaining sessions, either on Sundays during First Hour or this coming Wednesday evening. Especially for the […]
Churches progress through small experiments, author says “Churches often assume that trying something once means they have to get it perfect,” writes Dwight J. Zscheile in his book “The Agile Church.” “If they fail, the whole endeavor (new ministry initiative, worship service, program, etc.) often just quietly disappears, without seeking to learn what changes might […]
As we continue to explore what God is calling us to do at FHC, the Crossroads Team has planned two opportunities in September to discuss Dwight Zscheile’s book “The Agile Church.” Zscheile writes: We come to recognize leadership as less about managing people into the plans, programs, and visions leaders create, and more about accompanying […]
Our Crossroads Team
Team members include Margee Fabyanske, Cor Wilson, Conee Biggs, Larry Schumacher, Mary Gaasch, and Brian Knapp and Carol Holm (not pictured), along with the Rev. Rick King.