FleshingOutTheVisionMilestones

Project 1: Welfare

MILESTONE 1 (2022)

informally and formally as required:

Ministry Team, specific congregation members etc, within the bounds of confidentiality;

and Monash Homelessness Network;

appropriate;

MILESTONE 2 (2023)

and encourage the exchange of skills and knowledge within the Welfare Team; • The Welfare Coordinator to identify and prioritise the common welfare issues within the local community such as gambling, substance abuse, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, mental health, physical health, disability, child and family welfare, family violence, trauma, offending behaviour. • The Welfare Coordinator in conjunction with the Welfare Committee develop a project in response to an identified need in the community. MILESTONE 3 (2023-24) • The Welfare Coordinator and the Welfare Committee implement the project and then review effectiveness. • The Welfare Coordinator and Committee to enhance GWUC‟s positive welfare provider image within the local community SUCCESS INDICATORS Associated with the Welfare Coordinator and the Welfare Committee: Milestone 1 (2022) • Establishment of a framework for all involvements. (What‟s working what might change?) • Identification of the support group drawn from the GWUC community. (Open to enlarging team!) • Review the established systematic record keeping. • Creation of a resources file, adapting as our community changes. • Report on the level of active participation in the Monash Welfare Networks. Milestone 2 (2022-2023) • Report on clearly identifiable improvements. Glen Waverley Uniting Church – Re-Vision Proposal for 2022 4/12/2021 • Report on the learning opportunities accessed for the Coordinator and Welfare Committee. • Report welfare issues identified and prioritised by the Coordinator and Welfare Committee. • Report on a possible project in response to an identified and prioritized issue. Milestone 3 (2023) • Report on how GWUC‟s “welfare provider” image and service within the local community has grown and been enhanced. • Report on the implementation of the identified project. Project 2: Program of Multicultural and Intergenerational Events FOUNDATION • GWUC needs the injection of new blood, in particular families and young people, to ensure her long term viability. • Currently over 50% of the population of Glen Waverley were born overseas. VISION • The Glen Waverley Uniting Church to become known in the local community as the place where exciting and creative and collaborative events take place for the purpose of sharing and growing our faith in God. • The development of a meaningful, effective and safe multicultural and intergenerational program of events to assist with the integration into GWUC of individuals and responding to the mental health needs of individuals. PROPOSAL • Set up an events space. Easy access for the public from outside the complex is available from Room 1 which is the ideal location for this. It is a small area, easy to manage and with windows providing an interface to the outside world. • The program of events to be associated with booking Room 1 for time slots not booked by other groups. • The program of events is to be associated with promotional materials (eg. Real-estate board, Monash event portal, poster, flyer, brochure, Kingsway, bulletin, GWUC website, letterbox drop) which highlight the times and content of specific events. • The events space to be physically present only when the programmed event is taking place and only in the minds of those engaged in the program of activities. • The events may be associated with activities designed as input to worship services such as for Easter and Christmas. • The events space (Room 1) may be associated with: o Creations by talented people involved in art, dance, craft, music, painting, sculpture, literature, poetry, puppetry, storytelling, performing and cinema. o Exhibition material pinned to moveable partitions or on tables (artworks, photographs, craft, and poetry). o Tutorials associated with learning. o Virtual presentations using computer generated images and videos. o Experimental and innovative ideas displayed on a large screen. RATIONALE (Adapted from Peter Cheung‟s Proposed Intercultural Project) Glen Waverley Uniting Church – Re-Vision Proposal for 2022 4/12/2021 • Emerging studies have shown not only clinical treatments, but music, art, craft, exercise, pets, especially practised in a group setting can be therapeutic. • The project is based on the premise that being more multicultural and intergenerational is to be more inclusive. • The project will aid in promoting the integration of participants into Australian society for mutual benefit. “An emphasis on our role as neighbour as part of our identity ... [reminds] us of our shared cultural and geographical spaces and the fact that proximity brings responsibility. Even apart from Jesus’ call to love our neighbour, we know that our common flourishing depends on one another.” Makoto Fujimura APPROACH Preparation of a program of events by and for members of the church community, and the local community, on topics selected from the following: • art / craft • dance/ mime • music / song • poetry/ story telling • literature / book publishing • drama/ acting • environment/ nature • meditation/ tai chi • mental health/ physical exercise • nutrition/ diet • chess/ mahjong • language/ linguistics • pets/ gardening • food/ cooking • culture/ traditions • other? Each event will be designed and led by talented individuals from the church community who have a passion for specific aspects of life. MILESTONE 1 (Coordinator’s role)  Assemble a multicultural and intergenerational team to embark on developing a program of events.  Create a proposed program of events.  Determine the overall budget requirements and specific funding requirements for each individual event..  Define objectives for each event.  Identify the success indicators for each event.  Identify teams of people tasked with designing and implementing each individual event.  Flag how the promotion of the program will be arranged for both the church and local communities. MILESTONE 2 (Event leader and team)  Event subgroup to meet and define event parameters  Required resources (human, material, finance and time) to be identified and procured  Publicity for each event to be organised  Identify success indicators  Create a participants feedback sheet. MILESTONE 3 (Event leader and team)  Run the event  Ascertain if goals for event have been achieved.  Write a report on the statistics (no. of participants, etc.) and the positives or otherwise. SUCCESS INDICATORS (Coordinator in conjunction with the event leaders)  Compile the key performance indicators and the pros and cons of each event presented as a written report.  Determination of the success of each event based on participant feedback.  Determination of the success of each event based on the original objectives and team member feedback.  Determination of the overall success of the program of events based on the feedback from participants and team members. Glen Waverley Uniting Church – Re-Vision Proposal for 2022 4/12/2021 Glen Waverley Uniting Church – Re-Vision Proposal for 2022 4/12/2021 Project 3: Integrated Social Media and Streaming Presence FOUNDATION  „Social media‟ means any facility for online publication and commentary, including without limitation email, blogs, wikis, forums / online communities and social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.  The world of communications and media technologies is ever evolving.  Social media is now a massive part of our society, with over 483 million daily users of Facebook.  Social media is an easy and effective way for ministers and churches to engage with their congregations and beyond.  Posting information about upcoming events adds vibrancy to a church community.  The Vic/Tas Synod has created a social media usage guidelines webpage. https://victas.uca.org.au/news- events/social-media/ VISION To make available to the church community a professionally designed and integrated social media portal and streaming presence. RATIONALE For a church community social media can be used to engage people through healthy faith based discussion, event promotion and church updates.  People both within our congregation and beyond can be expected to follow the Glen Waverley Uniting Church on social media.  Social media is one of the main ways of accessing information by Families and young people.  Social media can be used by people who might otherwise be isolated; for example stay at home mothers with young children.  Social media can be used to support existing groups within the Congregation.  Social media can be used as a faith development tool, for example online groups may be established in association with face-to-face study groups held from time to time (e.g. Advent studies, Lenten studies).  Social media offers an additional channel for the awareness of events such as the Easter and Advent programmes, as well as fundraising events like the book sale and fete.  Social media provides an outlet for virtual sharing of projects such as the water harvesting, solar power installation, Choir of Hope and the welfare initiative.  The office manager can take over the role of posting factual information about events in the life of GWUC. MILESTONE 1 (Communications Committee)  Develop a priority list of social media capability/functions for GWUC.  Contract a developer and provide input to the design specifications.  Identify people to be 'champions' for the Glen Waverley Uniting Church social media presence.  Review and revise the GWUC social media policy to align with the Synods social media policy. MILESTONE 2  Beta version of the portal created, tested, evaluated and revised.  GWUC information downloaded to the social media portal. Glen Waverley Uniting Church – Re-Vision Proposal for 2022 4/12/2021 MILESTONE 3  Final version adopted and implemented.  Record the pros and cons over a three month period of operation. SUCCESS INDICATORS  Evaluation of the use and engagement statistics  Tweak social media portal based on findings from the evaluation Additional NOTES from selected Internet sites Social Media through the Lens of the Church “Social media gives a church more opportunity to reach its members, the people in their community and those searching for more to life. It's a way to engage directly with these people in a manner that they're comfortable with, where they are and in their own time.” how-to-use-social-media-for-churches Why? Churches are not called to sit inside and keep riches for themselves – no, they are called to go and make disciples of all men and women. Therefore, it‟s time to use social media to spread the gospel. Sixteen Powerful Social Media Strategies for Churches Social media platforms have changed the way that society interacts with and spreads information, and without it, a church will be pretty limited in their own success as communicators. See https://www.moonclerk.com/social-media-strategies-for- churches/ A Definitive Guide to Social Media in the Church Social media for churches isn‟t about cool. It‟s not about technology. It‟s not about promoting your events. It‟s about reaching people. See https://www.qb.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/TheDefinitiveGuide_to-social-media-in-the- church-1.pdf Social media policy Misusing social media, even if unintended, can damage your ministry‟s reputation and even put your church at risk of litigation. In order to enjoy the benefits of social media while also protecting against possible misuse, it‟s wise to develop a social media policy for your church or ministry. See https://www.agfinancial.org/resources/article/churches-and-social- media.-the-benefits-and-risks. Things to Avoid There are a handful of things you can do (or not do) that can have a bigger and more lasting impact on your effectiveness. See https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/seven-deadly-sins-of-church-social-media Ten Powerful Church Statistics on Social Media Use As a church leader, you need buy-in not only from your leadership team but also from your congregation as a whole to enact church-wide change. Ten (10) statistics that illustrate just how crucial social media is to church growth, how badly churches currently utilize it, and key takeaways to help you build (or fix) your social media strategy. See https://blog.capterra.com/church-statistics- social-media/ Glen Waverley Uniting Church – Re-Vision Proposal for 2022 4/12/2021 Project 4: Outreach to the Glen Waverley Community FOUNDATION The Presbytery inspired GWUC Missional Pilot Project was initiated during the COVID-19 periods of lockdown and a team assembled. Our local community:  One third of our local community has been here less than 15 years.  New arrivals are significantly from East and South Asia  The local community is 10% below the national average of Christian fraction.  New arrivals are often education focused on both secondary and tertiary studies.  How do we get to know the new-comers in our area? How do we welcome them? Very multi-faith. VISION The Mission Pilot group is exploring the possibility of holding an event day at GWUC, outside in the grounds. The aim is to grow GWUC connections with the local community and to help people ease back into social interaction. RATIONALE One of the Mission Pilot group members discovered the Australia wide Neighbour Day. The aim of Neighbour Day is to build strong communities and friendly streets. The purpose of the campaign is to raise national awareness of the importance of social connection and neighbourly actions throughout the year. It encourages people to make meaningful connections that last beyond the day itself. This Missional Pilot Project can contribute to the building of community APPROACH The Mission Pilot Team wishes to explore the possibility for the organisation of a Neighbour Day type event to be held on the lawns and in the car park of the GWUC premises at the Kingsway. While the group‟s over-arching intention is to focus on reaching out to new arrivals to our area from the Chinese Community, they see a general outreach event as an opportunity to explore making links with our local community. The GWUC Intercultural Task Group has been consulted. At this stage they see the activity taking place late afternoon or early evening. It is intended to be family friendly with multiple activities such as: Tai Chi group. Moving to Music. Community Mural. Information Table. Children‟s craft activity. These presented by church groups and perhaps local community groups. They would be exploring the use of a Real Estate Board to advertise the event, and of fliers for a letterbox drop. MILESTONE 1 Define project, KPIs and create project team. Formulate the project components MILESTONE 2 Plan the execution and implementation of the projects MILESTONE 3 Execute and implement SUCCESS INDICATORS Identify the positive outcomes and assess success based on KPIs. Glen Waverley Uniting Church – Re-Vision Proposal for 2022 4/12/2021 NOTES  This project is to be further developed by the Missional Pilot Project team.  Other ideas have been canvassed around having readings and other worship service parts in other languages etc  Choir with hymns in other languages, as the music is cross cultural.  Different tunes for different music and cultures are in the hymn book.  Rough sketches of ideas which were penned during the time of the Community Planter, which may be relevant in this contex