Long-Range Plan
Recommendations to implement the ten-year goals of a proposed
Long-range Plan for St. Paul’s Parish (2001-2011)

Evangelism

Recommendations to implement the ten-year goals of a proposed
Long-range Plan for St. Paul’s Parish (2001-2011)


Goal 1: To reach out to the un-churched.

Proposed activities:

1. Raise the awareness of our existence and location through a user-friendly and regularly updated web site, improved signage, and enhanced street visibility.

2. Develop an attractive brochure informing guests at nearby institutions, hotels and residents in nearby apartments of our regular worship schedule, and encouraging them to contact our web site for announcements of upcoming special events.

3. Experiment with various ways to get our web address known throughout the area, such as mailers to targeted neighborhoods, an occasional large ad in the Post, an ad in the Foggy Bottom Metro station.

4. Offer training to regular attendees on ways to treat the visitors helping St Paul’s to earn new members by being even friendlier than we already are. Such as: sit in the middle of the pew so guests who often arrive late can easily find a seat, hand them a hymnbook or prayer book open to the proper page, guide them through the liturgy as needed, walk with them to the coffee hour and introduce them to people, encourage them to fill out a visitor card.

5. As resources permit, offer regular, widely publicized preaching missions.

6. Offer regular evening and/or Saturday programs on topics of interest to the general public, such as:

– dealing with grief, loss and emotional pain.
– debt management.
– work/life balance.
– productive retirement.
– changing jobs and careers.
– surviving adolescence.

7. Offer periodic retreats for those who desire more information about Christianity and how to apply Christian teachings in today’s culture, such as:

– managing stress, maintaining wellness.
– do spiritual values belong in the workplace?
– dealing with difficult people.
– what is prayer? Does it work?
– understanding and respecting other faith traditions.
– how to read and understand the Bible.

Goal 2: To increase the number of young parishioners (ages 25 to 50) from in and around our community by 50% over the next decade.

Proposed activities:

1. Develop a cadre of up to 50 parishioners who will aid the clergy and greeters in befriending newcomers, finding out what their interests are, and engaging them in those aspects of parish life that appeal to them.

2. Resurrect the “cluster group” concept and create variations on that theme. For example, establish dinner groups of 6 to 8 people, composed of married and single, old and young, churched and unchurched, parishioners and non-parishioners, with the group membership being scrambled at the new year. The groups have the objective of broadening one’s network of friends within the parish and deepening those friendships. They also could be a way of interesting non-parishioners to stick their feet in the door.

3. Offer special interest classes or even support groups on parenting, coping with adolescents, drugs, teen suicide, driving skills, preparing for college, etc.

4. Offer vacation Bible school in the evening, with classes adults can attend at the same time as their children are attending their classes.

5. Provide remote parking with shuttle service to the church – this would ease the burden of handling small children, but it would also be a convenience for our elderly and mobility-handicapped members.

6. Increase the number and variety of activities in which parents and children can participate together.

7. Offer a low-cost but self-sustaining Christian day care service, perhaps in the future using the facilities of St. Mary’s.


Goal 3: To make greater use of the church and its facilities during the week for the benefit of the local community.

Proposed activities:

1. Prepare a high-quality brochure for distribution to local businesses, institutions, government offices, and hotels to make people aware of our location, service times, and web address for announcements of special events.

2. Develop a program of musical events, lectures, cultural displays, and Saturday and evening workshops on topics of interest to people of all faiths or no faith. Turn St. Paul’s into an adult learning center for the refreshment of the adult worker.

3. Establish a standing community liaison function, including clergy and parishioners, to maintain a point of regular contact with those groups in the community with whom we seek a closer more cooperative relationship.

4. Set aside times for meditation and prayer during the workday for local people to have access to the church, with a trained (St. Luke’s Guild?) person available for counsel and comfort. When resources permit, hire security personnel so the church can be open 24 hours a day for prayer.

5. Provide a shuttle service making it convenient for people in nearby offices or apartments to spend their lunch hour at St. Paul’s.

Goal 4: To work in collaboration with other congregations on evangelistic outreach activities in order to increase our effectiveness and to avoid duplication of effort.

Proposed activities:

1. Establish a committee to meet with representatives of other Episcopal congregations in the area to find ways to collaborate on evangelistic outreach efforts.

2. Look into outreach programs being successfully conducted by non-Episcopalian congregations to learn what we can from them.

3. Offer more joint programs and activities with nearby Episcopal churches and publicize these on our web site. Such as: preaching missions, joint retreats, concerts, and social service programs such as childcare, feeding the homeless, and masses for shut-ins.

4. Establish and fund an adjunct staff position for university ministry in consultation with other Episcopal ministries.

5. Encourage parishioners to support with prayer, time, and money the work of the Church outside the parish boundaries—in the city, diocese, nation, and throughout the world, especially in those areas where material resources are limited.