Introduction to Thriving Congregations
Over the summer, Williamsburg Presbyterian Church was selected as a church to participate in a new Lilly Endowment program operated through Montreat Conference Center and Black Mountain School of Theology entitled Thriving Congregations. Thriving Congregations is a 2-year program that involves participation in a cohort of churches that span the United States. Williamsburg Presbyterian Church is involved in the second of 3 cohorts, and some of our fellow churches in this second cohort span from California to Wisconsin, Alabama to Kentucky, and Virginia to North Carolina.
During the first week of October, a small team from Williamsburg Presbyterian Church traveled to Montreat Conference Center for our first training. The team is led by Joseph Kinard, with members including Diane Schwarz, Sarah Houghland, Sally McLain, Fred Whitley, Kathy Kruschwitz, and staff liaisons “A” Williams and myself, Pastor Rachel. Seven of our 8 team members were able to travel to North Carolina where we were trained in the first action steps we’re called to be taking: doing one-on-one conversations with the congregation and observing our church and community.
Why do one-on-one conversations and observe the church and community? Because we want to strengthen our relationship as a congregation and develop a better understanding of who we are as Williamsburg Presbyterian Church and our place within the wider Williamsburg community. The only way to go about doing this work is by our team doing one-on-ones with people in the congregation and community, as well as conducting intentional observations of the church and community. You might see us scribbling notes during worship, sitting outside before and after worship, or hanging around Sunday School classrooms taking notes of all that we see going on within the life of Williamsburg Presbyterian Church.
Perhaps most importantly is the fact that we’re going to need your help to do this work. We are all excited to get to know the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church family, to understand how our family operates, and to discern how each person helps make this a beloved family. If you are interested in doing a one-to-one with a team member, please contact our team lead, Joseph Kinard, and he will help get you in contact with a team member to have a 30–45-minute conversation where we simply get to know each other at a deeper level. We want to know what your passions are, how you came to join WPC, where you’re involved in the church and wider community, and share our own passions and journey as well! We’d love to grab coffee with you or meet up in the church library to have a conversation. We look forward to getting to know this family and deepen our connections as Williamsburg Presbyterian Church.
