At the beginning of this year, both in worship and at Church Council, we shared a resource titled, “Spiritually Literate New Years Resolutions.†These ten statements were offered as a sampling of ideas that could help one center at the beginning of the year, setting some internal, spiritual goals either instead of or alongside of our more typical resolutions. Now several weeks into January, we may want to return to the list and reflect on how we’re doing.
At Church Council in early January, chair Will Wright invited us to take the exercise one step further. He used an online tool to place the ten statements into a ranked voting system. Participants at Church Council then anonymously ordered and submitted their “votes,†or rather their prioritization of these statements. The purpose was not to set a direction for the year, but to take the temperature of the room, so to speak. The way ranked voting works, second and third choices can also impact the “winning†statements. It was interesting to see not just the top choices, but also the spectrum of sentiments across the group.
We wanted to share both the results of this exercise, as well as an opportunity to participate. Again, we’re not using this in any official capacity, but simply as a chance to experiment with both a new technological tool and a means internal—if anonymous—sharing. If the tool proves too complicated, but you’d still like to submit answers, you can send an email to councilchair@ucu.church, and Will can add yours into the mix.
I pray that exercises like this will help us find good company for the journey as we begin the year. I look forward to seeing many of you in person or via Zoom this Sunday as we hold our 2023 Annual Meeting. Don’t forget there’s a potluck breakfast at 8:30 for the early birds! 🙂
Pastor Jen