We learned to be gentle and grieve with those of every age who were experiencing loss in change. At the same time, we held firm and did not waver when grief was expressed as anger and criticism of the pastor, leaders and plan. An anonymous letter told our planning committee chairperson that he was ruining the congregation and should take his family elsewhere. Our first building expansion proposal was narrowly defeated but six months later the congregation overwhelmingly approved a motion to proceed with part of that plan. Focus on children.
People love our children's choir and have strongly support sending youth to camp.
We've overcome initial resistance to sharing space and resources with the pre-school because when people actually see and hear the children their hearts are touched. We've tried to listen to expressions of jealousy from those who feel abandoned by our focus on youth. We've tried to demonstrate that all members benefit and grow by focusing on a particular ministry that addresses a community need. Give every person a job and say thank you often. We assigned the confirmation class as ushers one Sunday a month and eventually we were able to assign new members ushering duties.