Your Church Council Update

“Every time we gather, hearts and minds are shaped, values and beliefs are formed, and the culture of the congregation is enacted.”

This message is at the top of every Church Council agenda, and I would speculate that it is true throughout every interaction we have as a congregation fulfilling the mission of First United Methodist Church of Olympia. 

Also at the top of every agenda is the covenant Your Church Council created at the beginning of my first leadership year as chair. We sought wisdom from John Wesley’s words, “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?” and “In essentials unity, in others diversity, and in all charity.”

Our covenant reads: 

“To be effective in our roles, we will:

• Be honest, kind, fully present, creative, open-minded, and open to possibilities.
• Come prepared, ask hard questions, assume positive intent, set assumptions aside, and listen. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

How people engage with each other during activities is just as important as what we do during those activities. Establishing community agreements and making a covenant with each other helps set expectations that support a healthy, thriving community. When a person violates an expectation, it can be addressed. If repair is not possible, the person can be asked to discontinue participation to reduce the harm caused. These covenants only work if we make them and use them during times of conflict. 

Your Church Council relied on its covenant during our January budget discussion. We were not able to conclude our discussion in one meeting, so we will gather again on February 25, 2025 from 6:30 - 7:30pm. Our visioning discussion was postponed until our regularly scheduled meeting on March 25, 2025 from 6:30 - 8:30pm. Both meetings will be held in the Gathering Place and on Zoom.