As I dive into my first months as your Interim President of the Board of Trustees for East Shore, I’m noticing that it’s not always what we do that matters but the way that we do it. So I want to share how I observe that simple but powerful idea come up in different contexts within our church community.
Take for example the experience of a new visitor to East Shore on a Sunday. The service may be inspiring and the music beautiful, but what makes a visitor feel that East Shore is special is how they feel afterwards, and this often comes down to the way that they were greeted, welcomed and connected with during coffee hour by everyone they interacted with. We have been doing a really good job of this most Sundays, and visitors often comment that they feel very welcome.
Another aspect of welcoming is how we make new participants feel when they check out a new group or activity. This might be the first time they are testing out whether they want to become a part of the East Shore community, which may determine whether they want to join as a member. We hopefully will introduce them to others in the group, give them the background they need to understand what we’re doing, and listen with interest to their ideas and questions as they explore a new role, so that they feel welcomed and appreciated.
I’ve been grateful to participate in the workshops held in January on the common read workbook, Social Change Now. These have encouraged us to think about how we do social justice activities at East Shore, thinking about the different roles that we as individuals take on when engaging in social justice. We have been recognizing that not all of us can or should be on the front lines of a particular issue, and that there’s a need for several other roles to support the front liners and help them be effective.
I’m excited about the upcoming “Soul Matters” program which will help us build deeper connections with each other by forming small groups that meet regularly to discuss deep topics. On Sunday February 22, an introductory workshop called “Taste of Soul” will introduce us to the program, and experience getting together in small groups to share thoughts about our experience of belonging.
In our January Board meeting, we discussed how we as board members will work with each other, by coming up with an agreed covenant that the BOT members commit to. We wanted to make sure that we always treat each other with respect, take each other’s opinions into account, respond to emails promptly, and come to the best decisions we can. We also discussed how the board reports that staff and committee chairs submit to the Board can be most helpfully written to give Board members the information they need, without being a burden to produce. In future months, as we have time, we will look more into other board practices to ensure that we are as welcoming and inclusive as we can be.
These are just some of the ideas we’re working on. I’m eager to hear your perspectives on how we can tweak our culture to become as welcoming to all as possible.
Amanda Strombom
Interim President, Board of Trustees