After opening with prayer, the group began its session on "Knowing Who You Are."  Our goal for the evening was to gather reminiscences, relate the scriptures to the congregation, and review the implications of our statistical information to help form a clear picture of who we are.

The group shared some of the events in their lives and in the life of the church which they felt were of some significance and started a time line.  Among these were:  the organization of CPNS, the attendance of all living pastors and student assistants at the 250^th church anniversary reunion, Election Night dinners, Vacation Bible School, Vesper services, mission nights, the 9/11 community service and the congregation's outpouring while singing "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" at the next Sunday's service, UPW village fairs, children's bell choir which sang on the radio in Trenton in 1953, Welsh Men's Choir visit, Strawberry Festivals, living nativities, Logos, senior fellowship, study of Romans, Joyful Noise choir, family retreats, mother/daughter banquets, men's fellowship, becoming a member, and many more.

We then read the evening's Bible verses:  Deuteronomy 7:6-8; 1 Peter 2:9-10; and 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 and discussed what each meant to us individually and as a congregation.  Those attributes of our congregation in summary were found to be:

                We are committed to community outreach.

                We enjoy Christian fellowship.

                We are a holy people and reach out beyond the community.

                We worship together and strive for significant worship experiences.

                We are committed to Christian education.

                We value children and seniors and meet the needs of both age spectrums.

                We comfort and help each other in times of trial.

                We accept people for what they are.

At this point we split into small groups for discussion of the evening's handouts

Member comparison - 10-year comparison of numbers of members, members participating in christian education, worship attendance, Sunday School attendance.

            Income and expense comparison - 10-year comparison of income and expenses

Each group reported on their conclusions:

WE ARE A CONGREGATION MADE UP OF PERSONS WHO

·         Do not attend church regularly.

·         Include a lot of children.

·         Give less money.

·         Have different age groups and varied backgrounds.

·         Reach out locally and worldwide.

·         Worship united.

·         Strive to keep our church strong.

·         Represent many different age groups and points of view.

·         Strive to provide a friendly and open atmosphere.

·         Enjoy food and fellowship.

·         Have strong spiritual roots.

·         Are concerned with where we are going.

·         Enjoy fellowship.

·         May be members or be signed up for sunday school but do not attend worship or attend sunday school.

·         Enjoy tradition.

·         Welcomes all with open arms.

·         Want a dollar's worth of church for fifty cents.

·         Desire and cherish fellowship.

·         Are committed to christian education.

·         Are not attending worship.

·         Are not giving.

·         Join and do not participate in worship.

·         Do not send their children to sunday school.

·         Are on fixed incomes.

IF IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS WE CONTINUE AS WE HAVE BEEN, WE SHALL PROBABLY

·         Become more homogenous.

·         Decrease funding membership.

·         Lose programs that attract new members.

·         Stagnate.

·         Need more leadership in Christian education to keep programs vibrant.

·         Continue to have financial difficulties.

·         Grow both financially and spiritually.

·         Continue to nurture.

·         Watch Lou grow old in the service.

·         Not have as many programs or services.

·         Lose attendance.

·         Lose youth interest.

·         Stagnate.

·         Have to decrease programs.

·         Burn out our one pastor and all of our volunteers.

·         Not be able to support programs.

·         Not increase our roles.

·         Not be able to afford two pastors.

·         Burn out all of our volunteers.

·         Continue to be a one-pastor congregation.

·         Lose members.

·         Not grow.

·         Have financial difficultie.s

·         Continue to enjoy our traditions, such as choirs and vespers.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FACING US RIGHT NOW ARE

·         Financial growth.

·         Youth programs.

·         The need for additional pastoral leadership.

·         Unity.

·         Not committing to stewardship or fulfilling the commitment.

·         How to become a better church.

·         Apathy.

·         Financial crisis and stewardship.

·         Additional pastoral leadership.

·         Lack of participation.

·         Financial.

·         Low worship attendance compared to membership.

·         Financial support.

·         Pastoral help.

·         Raise attendance.

·         Meeting our goals.

·         Financial.

·         Associate pastor.

·         Help for our current minister in terms of more staffing/assistant minister.

·         Pledging from congregation needs to increase.

·         Meeting needs of congregation with busy family schedules and diverse interests.

·         Finding ways to increase member participation.

·         Getting incremental trained leadership.

·         Getting new volunteers to prevent succession planning burnout.

The meeting closed with a period of silence to absorb in our own ways these reports followed by a hymn and worship as a group.