As part of the process in officially welcoming Martha Juillerat and Tammy Lindahl as our new part-time (but fully committed!) ministers, we had a congregational gathering on February 1 to talk about two questions:

1. Why did you first come to esquimalt United, and 

2. What keeps you coming back?

The morning ended with a great potluck lunch and more conversation.

Here are the results of our small group discussions on those two questions:

  1. Why did you first come to EUC?
  • Involvement opportunities
  • Unpretentious
  • Diversity and welcome
  • Music
  • Sunday school
  • Connections with people / Rainbow Kitchen
  • Authenticity of people
  • Church closure
  • Someone recommended this church
  • Proximity/physical location
  • Lay participation
  • Inclusiveness (indigenous)
  • Sense of belonging

 

 

  1. What keeps you coming back?
  • Theological openness
  • Diversity
  • Spiritual/social warmth
  • Progressive/searching growth
  • Time for possibilities to unfold
  • People and their stories – receive support from church family
  • Hymn choice
  • Children’s ministry
  • Music (humour, good integration with service, uplifting)
  • Inclusiveness/welcome, people feel a part of the community quickly
  • Congregation participation – lots of community involvement
  • Worship is invigorating / personal growth
  • Spirit is tangibly present (amplified by preaching, music, worship); we leave rejuvenated/full of hope
  • Strong lay participation, culture of commitment/caring
  • Feeling that we all can participate
  • No one obviously “in charge”
  • Baseline commitment to social justice/inclusiveness
  • Strong respect for diversity/change
  • Entrance point for everyone
  • Loving community within structure/Holy Manners
  • Moving past dogma into spirituality
  • Sense of continuous pastoral care
  • Fun, joy in music/singing
  • Forgiving congregation
  • Perfect imperfection
  • Growth, accepting perspectives, encourage participation
  • Music – musician, worship leader – songs from More Voices vs Voices United
  • Resilience where there are challenges but we are still carrying on with essence of resilience
  • Development of lay leadership/opportunities to use individual gifts
  • Open to different ways of doing the service/prayers
  • Environment (care for the planet); local effort to reduce junk
  • Extended family/people/pastoral care

Many thanks to those who planned and those who attended.