Duck United Methodist Church:

A place of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and witness.

Duck United Methodist Church Goals 2009

1. Worship
   1. Recognizing that one of Duck's primary missions is to be a place of worship we establish the following goals:
   2. We will encourage more youth involvement in the Worship Services by starting an acolyte program for 4th - 6th graders, and a youth ushering program.
   3. We will encourage a variety of different types of inspirational hymns by purchasing a supplementary hymnal for all of the Worship services.
   4. We will provide more visuals in the Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall, especially during Advent and the Lenten seasons such as banners and decorative acoustical tiles.
   5. We will continue to encourage more lay participation in the Worship Services through the Lay Reader Program and in Communion serving and preparation.
   6. We will encourage more involvement through the decorating of the church for the Advent and Lenten seasons.
   7. We will consider unique worship opportunities to offer to those members and visitors who have not studied the Bible and have prayer as a part of their daily lives.
   8. We will be more intentional in using our Chapel on the Sound as a place of worship.
   9. We will seek to increase our worship attendance by at least 10% over the 2008 year.

Fellowship

2. Recognizing that fellowship is one of the key ingredients in a church's development as a place where everyone knows your name, we set the following goals.

1. We will honor all of the new members of the church during the past quarter at each Covered Dish Supper. We will develop a process of inviting new members to the dinner and introducing them to the congregation. New members will be allowed to pass through the food line first.
2. We will continue to plan fellowship events designed to bring the entire church family together, i.e. Contest event (food cook-off or game night).
3. In conjunction with the Worship Team, we will plan a Homecoming Service in the fall 0f 2009 with one worship service for the entire church family and a fellowship lunch to follow.
4. We will work with the church council to develop an appropriate ritual for welcoming new members and introducing them to the congregation. This will include connecting them to a church sponsor who will help guide and assist them their first year. We will develop a new member class format that will seek to educate and assimilate new persons into the body of Christ.
5. We will encourage members to wear our new nametags to all church functions.
6. We will further develop the greeter program, utilizing greeters at all three worship services as well as small group settings.

Discipleship

3. Recognizing that one of our missions as a church is to make Disciples of Jesus Christ, we set the following goals:

1. We will focus on the Spiritual Disciplines during the 2009 Lenten season utilizing Richard Foster's book, Celebration of Discipline to become more intentional in our practice of the Spiritual disciplines and to further develop a spiritual climate in the church and increase spirituality.
2. We will encourage the development of more small group studies.
3. We will identify potential teachers and leaders and offer training opportunities. We will continue to strengthen the educational ministry of our church with training and retreat opportunities for teachers.
4. We will expand the educational outreach of our church by providing a variety of learning opportunities to our church and the local community including short term studies during the Advent and Lenten seasons.

Ministry

4. Recognizing that all Christians are called to ministry, we will establish the following goals:

1. We will implement Network, a process for identifying new leaders and determining their spiritual gifts, passions, and personal style for ministry.
2. Develop and implement Ministry Descriptions for all of the ministry areas within our church.
3. We will develop[ lists of potential church leaders, including their spiritual gifts and talents, to be shared with the Lay Leadership Committee.
4. In addition, we will utilize Position Descriptions and provide training for all leadership positions.
1. Recognizing that all worship ministries, programs, meetings and decisions are bathed in prayer, we plan to develop an organized and ongoing prayer ministry for Duck United Methodist Church.
   1. This ministry will be implemented as soon as it is possible to organize a core group of people who have the spiritual gift of prayer. We will need to identify those persons in the church with the gift of prayer and provide opportunity for growth in this area.
   2. The Chapel on the Sound will be utilized as a focal point for this ministry. We will need to have the chapel wired for sound and possibly video.
   3. Our goal is to establish a comprehensive prayer ministry. This will include but not be limited to having persons pray for all the worship services, church meetings, and gatherings. The ministry will also include intercessory prayer for all those who request such.
2. Recognizing our need to plan and implement programs to disciple our young adult population, we establish the following goals:
   1. Our Young Adult Small Group will continue to build community and deepen relationships with each other by:
      • Meeting on a weekly basis for accountability.
      • Practicing authenticity, trust, and vulnerability with each other.

      b. Our Young Adult Small Group will strengthen our relationship with God by:

      • Seeking God's guidance and provision through group prayer.
      • Applying our faith to specific life experiences.
      • Developing our personal relationships with Christ through personal prayer time, Bible study, worship, and service.

      c. We will experience Network as a group to learn how God has gifted us to serve.

      d. We will continue outreach to Duck/Southern Shores lifeguards in the summer.

      e. We will continue to invite other young adults to our small group and to welcome newcomers.

3. Recognizing our need to plan and implement programs to disciple our youth population, we establish the following goals based on our Youth Vision Statement.

   "Students transformed by God, transform to the World, transformed as we experience God, Connect with other Christians and Grow in relationship with God, transforming the world we Serve in ministry & Invite others into God's story."

   a. Long Term Goal: To see our students fulfill our vision statement before they graduate from high school. Our desire is to launch spiritually mature young adults to be committed Christian disciples when they leave their homes. The following short-term goals will help us minister more effectively so that our students can continue in the process of reaching spiritual maturity:

   b. Increased Spiritual Maturity.

   On a regular basis, challenge youth to take a step toward a deeper commitment in their relationship with Christ. Encourage youth to "move down the river" and focus on making the next commitment (Whether accepting Christ as Savior, joining a small group, practicing spiritual habits, serving in the ministry, or serving as a student leader.

   c. Invite
   1. Identify students and adult leaders with the spiritual gift of hospitality. Develop a hospitality team to welcome visitors to Sunday Night Live. This team will be responsible for welcoming visitors, following up with visitors, keeping attendance, and contacting youth who have been absent on a regular basis.
   2. Teach a series on sharing the Christian faith.

   d. Experience

   1. Move from an adult-led model for our Sunday night program to a youth led model.
   2. Continue to tweak our small group program to allow more time for accountability and community building.
   3. Develop at least one activity this year that encourages intergenerational interaction within our church family.
   4. Expose our youth to other Christian youth outside our congregation through our Sunday Night Live program, the District Beach Retreat, Relay for Life, and Impact Outer Banks.

   Grow:

   1. Develop at least one daily devotional resource that helps students connect with God one-on-one.
   2. Provide lessons in small groups that allow committed students to make more connections with God's story.
   3. Work with the children's ministry to crate a comprehensive, systematic curriculum plan for each grade level/age group (i.e. preschool, K-1, middle school youth, etc.) to ensure that each child/youth has been exposed to the essentials of Christian faith according to their developmental level. As a part of this goal, we will research other comprehensive curricula in order to help us develop a system that works best for our children and youth.

   Serve.

   Develop ministry teams (technology, prayer warriors, worship, set up/take down, hospitality, etc.) where students can serve. Commitments to ministry teams will be semester long in order to allow youth to try out different ministries in the process of discovering their spiritual gifts, ministry passions, and personality.

   • Identify and train student leaders and adult leaders to serve within the youth ministry.

   8. Recognizing that all Christian men are called to ministry, we establish the following goals for the United Methodist Men:

   1. We will continue current ministry programs (i.e. Caring Hands, Random Acts of Kindness, church work days, transportation ministry, etc.).
   2. We will increase membership.
   3. We will encourage the involvement of all age groups in UMM.
   4. We will increase knowledge of DUMM active ministries throughout the congregation.

   9. Recognizing the primary purpose of the United Methodist Women is: "A community of women whose purpose is to know God and experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ, to develop a creative supportive fellowship and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church." We establish the following goals:

   1. Spiritual Growth: remaining centered in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, through Bible studies, retreats, and inspirational events.
   2. Social Action: being involved in mission locally and globally that is centered on ministering to women, children, and youth.
   3. Education and Interpretation: to learn through mission studies of the expansion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our own country as well as around the world. To be committed to inclusiveness and to pledge our financial support for mission through Mission Giving.
   4. Membership Nurture and Outreach: to reach out to all women of ht church, to give them the opportunity to realize their full potential and to participate in the life of ht church through continual work, study, and sharing of talents, gifts, and graces.

   Witness

   10. Recognizing the importance of our Witness and the need to become more effective i reaching new disciples, we establish he following goals:

   1. We will explore the possibility of holding a Lay Witness Mission weekend in the fall of 2009.
   2. Following such training, a strategy will be developed to reach out to the un-churched in the Duck and surrounding community.
   3. We will continue to refine our distribution of materials in our community, spreading the word about DUMC.

   11. Recognizing that an important aspect of our church's mission is our outreach to the world, we recommend the following goals:

   1. We will educate the congregation on our many mission opportunities through newsletter articles, guest speakers, and special programs, while examining the manner in which information is presented to the congregation concerning Rainbow Covenant.
   2. We will continue to support missions such as our Mission to Biloxi, IMPACT Outer Banks, Caring Hands, and and Interfaith Community Outreach. We will be alert to emerging opportunities, especially at the local level. We will seek to partner with "All God's Children" to strengthen our ministry to the poor and marginalized.
   3. We will expand our strategies for engaging the community in mission, and being more intentional in communicating the needs of the community and ways for getting membership involved.
   4. We will encourage the increased financial support of M. E.R.C.I.

   OTHER

   12. Recognizing the need for an updated, Biblical vision statement, we establish the following goal: We will plan a retreat with the new administrative council in the winter of 2009 for the purpose of prayerfully reviewing our mission statement and making sure our Program Goals are congruent with our vision for Duck UMC. Biblical resources and study guides will be provided for the purpose of developing a mission statement.

   Communications

   13. Reckognizing the importance of stewardship and finance in Duck United Methodist Church fulfilling its mission, we establish the following goals:

   a. We will see that tithing and proportionate giving are both taught and encouraged.

   b. We will promote year-round stewardship education, emphasizing the greater use of money, talent, tie, and environmental resources.

   14. We recognize that Duck UMC is faithful and successful in apportionment and second mile giving. We will develop a comprehensive stewardship model that focuses on all aspects of giving and living responsibly as God's stewards of the earth.

   We will strengthen the area of stewardship through teaching moments in sermons, newsletters, bible studies, and the Sunday School. Our Network Ministry will also address the issue of stewardship of time and talent. We will also establish a permanent endowment committee to encourage legacy partners in t he church.

   15. Recognizing that true community cannot exist without clear communication, we recommend the following goals:

   a. We will maintain a viable web site that is current and up to date.

   b. We will increase our visibility it the local newspaper with small ads each other and we will work with all areas in the church in the advertisement of events through the newspaper and other avenues of communication.

   c. We will update our signs out front and redo in an easier to update and read format.

   d. We will provide postcards and magnets for our visitors and guests.

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