1/10/2010 Looking back and comparing
I haven't been working on the website for awhile because I've been busy with deadlines in my work as Christian Formation Director and because GIFT seems to be tanking in just about every location. I made up a chart with comparing GIFT at St. Dunstan's and GIFT at Grace. That can be seen on the Comparisons webpage. There are many reasons why GIFT didn't work well at Grace. Go to the chart for specifics. St. Dunstan's no longer uses GIFT. I think it lasted a year after I left. I hesitate to speculate on that. Anyhow, I am not motivated to promote GIFT at this point. I can't look to a specific current success... only backwards. But, occasionally people from other churches say that this is a helpful resource, so I will continue on. Feedback would be helpful, or letting me know other ways GIFT is being used.
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7/17/2009 Summer and planning
Ahh, summer. I have been "decompressing" for the last month or so, and now it is time to set my sights on the fall. When I started looking at the lectionary (year B into year C), I actually got excited. Since I have been a Christian Formation Director now for 4 years, I can actually look back on work I did from the last year B and C (Fall 2006-Spring 2007). Right now I am mainly working on setting up Godly Play, but soon will post relevant material for GIFT. Stay tuned!
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5/4/09 Logistics
It seems that the hardest part of any program or event is always the logistics. At least, that is true for me. Coming up with the idea and general format is the fun part. Gathering all the materials, checking on dates and room reservations, coordinating volunteers, advertising... that all makes me tired. I just finished the second draft of the third chapter of the GIFT book. It is all about logistics. In my attempt to help people through the muddle of GIFT logistics, I think 50% of the sentences are questions.
And maybe that is good. Too often we're looking for the right answer, without knowing what question is being asked. As I head into the next stage of the church year, Pentecost, I need to start making a list of pertinent questions instead of "to do" items.
One that's been hanging over my head is "Do I keep working on my GIFT consulting business? Or should I pull back and just concentrate on my work as a Christian Formation Director?" I'm not sure of the answer, but every time I get an email or a phone call from someone wanting to use GIFT for her own church or to share with her diocese, I realize again that the call to share Growing In Faith Together is the "Together" piece. No matter where we are, be it New York, Virginia, or Ottawa, we are all part of the body of Christ.
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3/22/09 Lenten Program Feedback
Three of the four Lenten program evenings have occurred at this point. Overall, great success. Three of the five Episcopal churches in town have had participants every evening. The hosting church (also the largest church) has had the most participants, but the two smaller churches have provided the most volunteers/teachers/leaders.
This last week, we had 50 people attend. (Those are fantastic numbers for our region.) The choir performed a sung compline which was gorgeous! The only critique here is that the choir rehearsed during the programmatic time of the evening, effectively taking ten people away from the main speakers: congregants from the Hispanic ministry. But, I think it is always better to have more people involved and have some "whoops!" than to have everything so tightly controlled by me that GIFT becomes my program and not the community's.
Now is the time to get feedback for next year. I've started to use SurveyMonkey.com because it is incredibly easy (and has a free version). So far, the main critiques are not enough time for the social justice strand, too much time for the storytelling strand, shoir rehearsal (mentioned above), and not enough children participation.
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3/9/09 Volunteer coordination
The providing of a meal is the biggest stumbling block for me. It may just be my personality: I love creating and teaching programming and dislike cooking and cleaning. But, it may also be that there are more roles and resources needed for the meal than the formation. I also am not great at volunteer coordination, so there are often spots that I just fill in myself.
If I were assisting GIFT at its finest, how would I "fill in" all of the gaps?
If I knew the congregation well as individuals, I would know who to ask to do what. Or, I would know which person(s) to ask to do the actual volunteer coordination, so that I was working more on providing the programming.
But, what if I am new in a congregation? Or if people in that congregation are not used to volunteering or sharing personal information with each other? Then what?
Hmmm... I would most likely do most of the work and keep sending out "all calls" in the bulletin and announcements. But, I don't think that would be a good solution. I also wouldn't want to get a handful of volunteers who would help out continuously... that would burn them out. Or get the volunteers who have the spiritual gift of service or helps, but not of teaching, leading, administration, faith, shepherding, or other gifts needed to have a robust program.
I think I would start with the clergy (priests, deacons, ministers), then the wardens (elected heads of the vestry), then the vestry (elected lay people to run the church...similar to a city council). Or if I knew who the matriarch and patriarch of the congregation were, I might start there. Which of these people know the most about the congregation as a whole? Which of these people know the most about individuals within the congregation? Which of these people can most effectively approach individuals to ask them personal questions or ask them to volunteer?
Then, I would make the roles and time commitments explicitly clear: "For one hour next Sunday, I need you to be in the kitchen (starting at 8am) to set-up tables, plates, food, and coffee. There is a manual in the kitchen with instructions for each."
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3/7/09 Can GIFT work in my church?
I have "done" GIFT in 3 different venues now:
1. Every Sunday morning for formation, including breakfast, no other forums or classes offered, for a church with ASA (average Sunday attendance) of less than 100.
2. 4 Sunday mornings in a row, including lunch, in place of adult forum and youth group. for a church with ASA of about 150.
3. 4 Tuesdays in Lent, including dinner, at a third church (ASA of 250) with all Episcopal churches in the city invited. Response time allows for four different options in four different rooms.
1. I think GIFT is essential in this setting, due to numbers. The age-groups cannot be separated out and still have viable formation programs.
2. I think GIFT could have a positive effect on the church community if the noon Spanish service was pushed back and so they could also join in. In this setting Adult forum and youth group are less work for me. Adult forum is viable: 10-20 people a Sunday. Youth group is lacking in attendance. Come September 2009, we might try a combination: GIFT once a month, with adult forums, etc. the other Sundays.
3. Only one of the four Tuesdays has occurred as of today. It went well. 40 total people from 4 different churches attended. The social justice response was the best attended, followed by the prayer response, and trailed by Godly Play and storytelling.
I will wait until another week or more has gone by to really critique GIFT's viability in this setting.
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