The Following survey summary was provided to Synod delegates by the office of the PEC Southern Province for study and consideration.  Given that only  1/2 of the congregations responded in time to be accounted for, and the fact that the responses are not weighted for the number of delegates that represent each congregations view, it is difficult to accurately gauge what sentiments  delegates will bring to synod.  Webmaster comments Aug 17, 2005

 

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Survey Summary

 

Response totals as of July 19,2005:

  • 32 of 59 congregations and fellowships responding
  •  3 of 9 provincial boards and agencies responding

The summary that follows is focused on the response to question three of the survey:

 

" As you consider the diversity of our broader shared ministries as the Southern Province, which stretch from V A to FL, what aspects of ministry are most important for the 2006 Synod to address to best support and inspire positive growth in our shared ministries in the next synodal period (2006-2010)?"

Each congregational, provincial board or agency group and their respective delegates were asked to respond and to note the top three responses. A single response for each congregational or provincial board / agency was requested noting the top three replies each group had prioritied.

·         35 groups responded; 105 possible different answers

·          There were 7 categories with at least 10 responses:

 1.  Polity and Organizational Management [18]

       2.  Evangelism and Church Growth [17] :,

 3.  Theology and Faith Expression [16]

 4.  Unity and Community Building [15]

 5.  Stand on Issues of Controversy [13]

 6.  Social Concerns, Justice, and Tolerance [10]

 7.  Stewardships and Financial Reform [10]

 

 

 

There were six additional categories with a moderate response of 2 to 5:

·         The categories receiving five responses include:

1.       Youth and Camp Ministries [ 5]

2.       Ministerial Development [5]

3.       Communication [ 5]

 

 

·         The categories receiving at least two responses include:

       1. Moravian Heritage [3]

       2. Marketing, Promotion, and Public Relations [3]

       3. Education and Spiritual Formation [2]

 

Listed below is a summary of the comments given in each of these categories beginning with the highest response and concluding with the category with at least two responses.

 

Polity and Organizational Management [18]

  • .Responding to the geographical spread and the development of the province
  • .How will the province deal with the issue of small congregations and how to minister to them without prejudice against small congregations?
  • .Determine the effectiveness of the current provincial structure
  • .Finding innovative ways to encourage broader participation of congregations allover the province (in provincial shared ministries)
  • .Actively seeking ways to broaden representation on the PEC can only enhance the unity of the province
  • .How can the province encourage / enable people from congregations outside of Forsyth County to serve on the PEC and provincial boards?
  • " At times provincial leadership has seemed inconsistent in dealing with local congregations. The development of a documented strategy for provincial leaders, pastors, and church boards in responding to personnel issues, particularly as those issues related to church doctrine, ordination vows, etc., would be useful:"

;

  • Take a hard look at smaller congregations and try to determine what is; in the best interest of the province. Try to determine why some congregations continue to thrive while others steadily decline.
  • A void duplication of services within congregations -encourage cooperation, sharing and pooling resources
  • Stronger provincial leadership -willing to take decisive action more quickly
  • "Work harder to reduce Winston-Salem bias in provincial matters."
  • Concern for what appears to be doubt on the part of the PEC on where Moravians

stand in terms of salvation

  • Having more frequent encounters and contacts with "Winston-Salem" (assuming this means visits by provincial leaders to outlying congregations)
  • More independence for congregational pursuits -financial and congregational
  • Maintaining conferential form of church government
  • .More open to sharing resources
  • Relevance and leadership of the PEC
  • Need for a unifying vision for all congregations
  • Leadership must begin to reflect the changes that are occurring in our immediate

culture that reflect changes and growth in ethnicity and cultural diversity

 

  • Build bridges -have more joint participation and activities
  • "Simple, straightforward statements concerning what we as Moravians believe regarding the uniqueness of Jesus Christ is needed! Not enough has been done."
  • Re-establish trust between congregations and provincial leadership
  • Transparency in budgets of provincial boards and agencies is needed -just as congregations are expected to provide to provincial leadership
  • Provincial leadership is "top heavy" -growing larger as the over all membership of the province is in decline
  • Clergy salaries were raised to a burdensome level at the 2002 Synod
  • Call process is in need of change and improvement
  • "Appropriate representation on the PEC -leadership!"

 

Evangelism and Church Growth [17]

  • A new provincial strategy for developing new congregations
  • Develop new models for congregational growth
  • Strategies to reach Hispanic peoples
  • Strategies for small congregations -those declining and those which are growing
  • Ministry to the aging
  • " .Ministry to the young and attracting young folks
  • Strategies to address the aging of many congregations and their declining attendance and membership
  • Concern for compromise of values, heritage and preferences for the sake of attracting new and inactive members
  • New emphasis on the proclamation of the "Gospel"
  • Sharing strategies already learned by congregations experiencing growth
  • Multi-cultural awareness
  • Redevelop provincial media resources for evangelism ("Becoming a Member" video )
  • Declare new effort to reach new persons for Christ (move away from maintenance mode )
  • Help in learning to minister to a diversity of ages

 

Theology and Faith Expression [16]

 

·         Keeping a biblical emphasis

·         Lots of time spent by the congregation in the last synodal period monitoring,

studying, and responding to our province's stand (and lack thereof) on a variety of theological issues

  • Provincial leadership's response to theological challenges have often lacked clarity or appeared inconsistent from situation to situation, or seemed inconsistent with the Moravian Church's foundational beliefs.
  • 2006 Synod needs to take a scriptural, unwavering and public stand on issues that threaten to split our denomination
  • " As long as the Synod allows the Truth to be compromised, the efficacy of our denominational leadership will be diminished by the enemy.
  •  Christ as sole and unique way of life
  • Affirmation of scriptural authority
  • Stand on doctrine without compromise. Do not allow our efforts to increase attendance cause us to weaken our gospel message.
  • Make Christ and the Church the main focus.
  • Reaffirm that Jesus Christ is the Chief Elder
  • No doubt as to where we stand in terms of our salvation
  • "The number one issue facing Southern Province" is adherence to biblical truth. If the province would take a stand on biblical truth there would be more unity and we would be in accordance with God's will, thereby opening us to His shower of blessing."
  • Address theological differences
  • Establishing what we believe and what example we set to and for others, including the secular world

 

  • Strengthen support and understanding of the Ground of the Unity, the Holy Scriptures, and the great creeds of the Church.
  • Reaffirm the essential beliefs of Moravians with clarity
  • Know what you believe, articulate what you believe and them you will have active growth. Preach it, teach it and they will follow.
  • Confirming the authority of the Bible as God's word
  • Affirm heart relationship with God as the individual's journey as central to our Moravian identity
  • Move toward a spirit of acceptance of diversity as a strength of our church
  • Need for a unified theology and practice regarding rites, sacraments and adherence to the order of the province and the unity
  • Destructive, divisive and wasteful nature of extremism in Christianity -church must be courageous and intentional in its response to such elements

 

  • Will we take the Bible literally as the inerrant word of God?

 

Unity and Community Building [15]

  • Need for a unified theology and practice regarding rites, sacraments and adherence to the order of the province and the unity
  • Move toward a spirit of acceptance of diversity as a strength of our church
  • Covenant to work better together; to be less partisan
  • Interaction between congregations -working together on outreach events .
  • More joint participation in activities and events
  • Connections with congregations away from Winston-Salem
  • Keep common bond as we face issues and challenges
  • Need for a vision that unites all congregations
  • Staying in community as a province
  • More frequent encounters and contacts with "Winston-Salem" (assuming this means

sharing and cooperation between members of the province in general)

 

  • Develop exchange program between congregations
  • Keep province together under the same tent -developing an attitude of not letting our

differences destroy us but let our diversity strengthen us (

  • More communication and unity on policies in the worldwide Moravi~ Church
  • Pastors and congregations need to be more provincially minded
  • Avoid duplication of resources -encourage cooperation and pooling of resources
  • Unity in our diversity

 

Stand on Issues of Controversy [13]

  • Making a firm stand on controversial issues, fai~h issues, and keeping a biblical emphasis
  • Need to take a scriptural, unwavering stand on issues that threaten to split the province.
  • Sexuality in the church
  • Stand on our doctrine without compromise
  • More clarity from Synod on social and moral issues
  • "The number one issue facing Southern Province" is adherence to biblical truth. If  the province would take a stand on biblical truth there would be more unity and we would be in accordance with God's will, thereby opening us to His shower of blessing."
     
  • Take a stand on issues that are theologically diverse

     
  • Acceptance of persons with same sex orientation
  • Keeping common bond as we face difficult issues and challenges -stay together in

Christ!

  • The Southern Province needs to take a biblical and unified public stand on social issues facing society today
  • Destructive, divisive and wasteful nature of extremism in Christianity -church must be courageous and intentional in its response to such elements

 

Social Concerns, Justice, and Tolerance [10]

  • How will the province focus on the essential aspects of food, shelter, clothing and employment rather than on things that may be considered superficial?
  • Tolerance with regard to theological diversity
  • Inclusion of others -women in pastoral roles, racial reconciliation
  • Promoting equality in ministry as to race and gender
  • More formalized acceptance of women in ministry
  • More clarity from Synod on social and moral issues
  • Disaster response -shared efforts and coordination
  • Ministry to the aging
  • Ministry to immigrants
  • Acceptance of persons with same sex orientation
  • Employment and life skills training programs
  • Parenting classes

 

Stewardships and Financial Reform [10]

  • How will the province be the best stewards of our resources recognizing our differing sizes and needs?
  • A stewardship emphasis encouraging and challenging people to use their time, talent, and their treasure for the Lord and for the Church.
  • Raising money to support a growing church- funds for programs and staff
  • Empower our provincial leadership to actively seek to minimize the financial burden on congregations by reducing the required giving to the province. A reduction would free up funds to be used by congregations for ministry , increased space, etc.
  • Address declining membership and financial issues
  • Address financial burdens on individual congregations
  • More open to sharing resources
  • Financial help (Cornerstone Campaign)

 

Youth and Camp Ministries [5]

  • Continuing support for camp programs and Laurel Ridge
  • Camp and mission ministry for youth
  • Youth ministries
  • Youth and children's ministry
  • Tensions between contemporary and traditional worship
  • Youth ownership in the congregation

 

Ministerial Development [5]

  • Promoting equality in ministry
  • Attract and train new ministers
  • Need for formalized mentoring program
  • Lucrative seminary scholarship program
  • Paying ministers a living wage and adequate benefits
  •  Care and nurture of clergy
  • Recruitment and support of quality candidates for ministry
  • More Godly leadership in the recruitment and development of candidates for ministry
  • Call process -improvement

 

Communication [5]

  • Foster better communication between churches for ideas and programs that work and don't work
  • Sharing strategies for growth
  • B-lingual education

 

Moravian Heritage [3]

  • Preserving our Moravian heritage
  • Preserving our Moravian identity
  • Promoting our Moravian story

 

Marketing, Promotion, and Public Relations [3]

  • The province as a whole should make greater use of the wider electronic media that are available today to tell- no proclaim -the Moravian Church's story (radio, TV , publishing, billboards, advertising)
  • Have a Christian based public relations campaign to let people know what the Moravian Church is

 

 

Education and Spiritual Formation [2]

  • The priority of Christian education for personal spiritual formation and our on-going identity as Moravians
  • Strengthening provincial Christian education