Membership Committee Annual Report 2023
Committee Co-Chairs: Donald Cooper and Annette Flavel. First year of term.
Committee Members: David Bryan, Donald Cooper, Anne Espinosa, Annette Flavel, George Johnson, Mary Maclachlan.
Board liaison: Nancie Perez-Shillington.
Major Accomplishments This Year: Addition of 27 members to congregation.
Factors that Facilitated or Impeded Your Work This Year: Post-effects of pandemic, such as concern for possible infection, which limited attendance at services. Lack of CYRE director, incomplete CYRE program and personnel hindered recruitment of young families and members who could mature into major participants in and supporters of the church.
Any Special Initiatives Continuing into Next Program Year: The main objective of this committee will continue to be the restoration of the size of the congregation. Whereas at this time we have 153 active members, in 2014, there were 228 members.
Future Dreams or Long-Range Plans for the Committee: Besides the restoration of the congregation size, we need to continue to make sure that the committee members acquire the extensive necessary skills and specific knowledge of procedures for membership work. Beyond this, we need to attract younger committee members and carefully mentor them as they progressively acquire these skills.
Constraints on Accomplishing These Plans: At this time, the active members tend to be older. This is partly the result of the fact that it is often older members who have progressed professionally to be secure and have available time, and have passed time-consuming child-rearing years. In our congregation, the aforementioned issues of CYRE, which hinder attraction of young families, limit the pool of membership and the long-term development of the skills which support the function of the church as a system.