Bethel UMC Goals for 2010

As we "live our faith and share God's love," our goals will guide us to make disciples of Jesus the Christ and to be a beacon for God's love in our community. We covenant to work together to achieve our goals with the same commitment of those who made Bethel UMC what it is today. We recognize these goals are not just the responsibility of the church council who developed them or the person who has volunteered to lead in any specific area. We all accept responsibility to work to help our congregation realize our goals. In each of our work areas we will focus on becoming "Five Talent Organizations".

Become a "Five Talent Church"

We understand a "five talent church" to be a church that engages the talents and passions of each of its members, encourages one another to grow in discipleship, and holds each other accountable to become and make disciples of Jesus the Christ.

Membership Goals

  • 30 new members
  • Invite others to join in our worship, ministries and other activities
  • Welcome each person who comes with Christian hospitality
  • Incorporate old and new members alike into our ministries
  • Nurture one another to grow in our journey to discipleship

Average Attendance Goals

  • 175 Weekly
  • Emphasize reclaiming those who have dropped away
  • Invite others to come

Committee Goals will be established separately and in support of our congregational goals.

A pdf version of our goals for 2010 is also available.

Our Ten Year Vision

We are a congregation with a rich history and tradition. We value the work of the persons who preceded us and laid the foundation of our congregation. That foundation is characterized by exceptional Christian hospitality and an atmosphere of welcome and incorporation that we are determined to retain as the core of who we are. To keep ourselves on track, we have a 10-year vision to focus our activities, initiatives, and growth.

We created our first 10-year vision in 2001 and we achieved nearly all our goals we set in five years. The result was major growth both numerically and spiritually, increased outreach and nurture ministries, and new and refurbished facilities. Specifically, we grew from 150 to 220 members and our average weekly attendance grew from 80 to 125. We had over 80 engaged in Bible study. Virtually all our new outreach and nurture ministries were begun in those years. And we refurbished our sanctuary and built our new social hall.

In 2006 as we re-envisioned our future out to 2016, we considered our history, our growth, and what we believed God was calling us to be and do. As we continue to grow, the central characteristics that we are unwilling to sacrifice and are intentionally trying to preserve are our small church atmosphere and the atmosphere of Christian hospitality and welcome. Also central to our future vision was the idea that we wanted to move from just being an enthusiastic welcoming congregation to becoming an inviting, yet still warm and welcoming congregation.

Our vision for 2016 included membership and attendance, facilities, ministries, and other programs. Based on our recent growth trends, we envisioned 160 new members (total of 400), 300 in weekly worship, and increased staff (senior and associate pastor, a youth coordinator/leader, an administrative assistant). We envisioned the need for more space including a youth house, land for expansion and more parking, additional classroom space, a larger nursery and toddler space, using the parsonage to provide needed space, and having a church bus. We envisioned three worship services, continuing our strong study and prayer ministries, expanded mission focus, expanded music ministry, expanded youth ministry, expanded children’s ministry, after school programs for children and youth, programs for seniors, and perhaps a Parents Day Out Program.

We believe that our vision is realistic and achievable if we continue to focus on making disciples of Jesus and listening for God's still small voice to lead us.