Meet and Greet Sessions

First Impressions last.  And making a good first impression is vital.  Prior to returning to Westminster United Methodist Church,  the Baltimore Washington conference of the United Methodist church sponsored a clergy and Staff Parish Relations Committees retreat by region.  

Among the goals of the meeting was to focus on how the congregation can prepare for their new pastor and suggestions for first things to get accomplish.  It is intended to give pastor and church members the opportunity to meet and get to know each other and discuss those things that the leaders of the congregation are hoping to accomplish. 

The event was planned when many folks from the SPRC were obligated for other events so Westminster sent Frank, Chairperson of the Trustees.  I knew Frank and his wife Cindy from my time as lay person at Westminster.   In actual fact, when Jacki and I came to Westminster we assumed the responsibility of the youth group from them.  In a round about way, God put Jacki and I into youth ministry at Westminster and it was from this ministry service that I responded to God's call to full time ministry.   I guess, that in some small a way, (sort of as Longfellow's "way leads to way") it is cause of Frank and Cindy that I am where I am. 

Frank and I caught up in the twenty years apart. His thoughts of the state of church and particularly the challenges of the last few years.  It was a good day.

My first day at Westminster was midweek on July 1, 2015.  By this time I had met several times with the associate pastor who often spoke of the congregation as reeling with pain and grief.  I decided that my first action was to meet with the leaders on the church council in meet and greet sessions.   That day was spend calling and reintroducing myself to many and inviting them to our first gathering set for a week later. 

The call went something like this, "Good morning Greg, Pastor Malcolm here, i wanted to call you up on my first day and thank you for your service as the chairperson of Church Council and I am looking forward to working with you as we see where God is leading us here at Westminster.  Next Wednesday evening, I am hosting a meet and greet in the Martha Manihan room.  We will only be an hour and I hope that you can join me and other leaders of Westminster ."

I made a load of calls, left many messages but succeeded in contacting nearly all of those on the Council. 

The following week, I set out a gallon of store bought Ice Tea and Lemonade... a plate of assorted store bought cookies and cups and napkins and greeted the leaders as they arrived.  The Martha Manihan room has furnature set about the room and as I set the refreshments around a table with no chairs this kept our meeting to a standing up affair.  Almost cocktail hour-ish as we introduced ourselves.   We prayed for our church and the only thing I asked of them was to write on a 3x5 card one thing they would like to see accomplished in Westminster in the next six month to year and who should I invite to the next meet and greet.  As promised in my invitation the event lasted one hour.

This process was repeated nearly every week throughout the summer.  While not closed affairs, I made a special point to hold two open invitations to anyone who would like to come. 

Many wanted to know my vision for the church.  The answer to this question was often evaded with a response of let's see where God leads us, I have no agenda coming to Westminster than to meet as many folks in these sessions.  By the end of the summer, i had met with 147 folks.  And I had a list of their hopes and dreams for Westminster UMC. 

Next step will be discerning where these hopes and dreams mesh with God's.