Meet Your Congregational Development team, the 'Brain Trust'
Recognizing the purpose of the Church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ, the Cathedral Chapter, under the auspices of Bishop Rice and Dean Sam, has approved a new Commission for Congregational Development. Named The Brain Trust, its purpose is to develop and implement those essential ministries and functions required for a vital, thriving Cathedral.
To that end the Brain Trust, meets as a council of commissions twice monthly. We understand that operating successfully within today's rapid-change culture requires that we work not only hard, but smart if we are going to achieve our mission of making new disciples in the Episcopal tradition. Launched in February of 2021, the members have addressed the following organizational and strategic tasks:
-
Recruit leaders and commission members.
-
Establish regular meetings for each commission
-
Created our congregation's vision, mission, and core values
-
Establish operational plans for each commission composed of goals with specific steps for reaching those goals, and operational plans for tracking progress in reaching our goals.
-
Engaged in learning about church growth and vitality within our commitment to ongoing learning and evaluation
-
Created a working format and procedures for the Brain Trust council of commission meetings.
So other than the nuts and bolts, why the name Brain Trust and what has this new Congregational Development Committee to do with me?
EVERYTHING! God calls us to the amazing journey of following Christ through growth in our faith via head, heart, mind, and spirit. God calls us to pattern our lives after Jesus in loving our neighbor as ourselves. AND loving ourselves as God loves US!
God calls us to join with God in being the shining light of love and justice in the darkness; to speak truth to power and engage in providing for those in need!
Nothing short of transforming the world after the Reign of God is God's call. That requires community, commitment, excellence, diligence, joy, and service. You know that old militaristic metaphoric frontier hymn: Onward Christian Soldiers? It takes an army. YOU! The work of the Brain Trust will enlist all of us in the ministry of living out and sharing
God's good news in Jesus.
And WHY call it a "Brain Trust"? Because it aptly describes the moment we are in: Dean Sam named this commission "The Brain Trust", after a team of willing leaders called together by Franklin D. Roosevelt to find a way out of the crisis of the Great Depression. Understanding the critical nature and urgency of the situation that faced the nation, FDR tasked this group with producing federal programs for addressing pressing social issues that were directly affecting the ability of ordinary people to thrive and live with dignity. Social Security was one of many products FDR's Brain Trust produced. Dean Sam in recognition of our need to be the thriving and vital Cathedral required for our diocese to thrive and our community to thrive, nailed it: We needed a Brain Trust to accomplish just that!
A complete list of the Brain Trust and its varied commissions and leaders will be provided at our upcoming Annual Meeting on Sunday Jan. 30. (And watch this space for more information.).
--Denice Lesle
