Explore First: engage, encompass, envision

by Zack Allen, FUMCR Exploratory Committee Chair

The FUMCR Exploratory Committee, dubbed “Explore First,” was created in response to a recommendation from the FUMCR Strategic Vision Committee following their work in 2022 and 2023 to revisit the strategic pillars of the church in a post-covid world. We are a task force charged with evaluating the current state of the facilities at FUMCR, gathering input and insights regarding best ways to utilize the FUMCR facilities, and providing recommendations for improving the church campus so that the FUMCR facilities can best serve its members and the community. Our work encompasses both the immediate and near-term facility needs for the church as well as those future, long-term facility needs that will enable FUMCR to continue to grow and serve as the body of Christ.

We view ourselves not as a steering committee but as a listening committee. To that end, we are currently in the process of gathering the feedback, data, and insights that will be used to guide our recommendations. Our work began with an online survey designed to collect feedback from individuals, including members and non-

Committee members, left to right: Keith Dagen, Jaxie Alt, Amy McCloskey, Zack Allen, Sarah Smith, Joel Barron Staff liaisons: Kristen Ceaser, Drew Presley, Clayton Oliphint members alike. As of this writing, the survey has generated over 300 responses, for which we are incredibly grateful. If you have not yet taken the survey, it can be accessed at here.

In addition to the survey, we are working to connect with each of the worship, fellowship, learning, and service communities at FUMCR to coordinate a time when we can meet and engage with you about your thoughts and recommendations for our church campus, both now and in the future. Finally, we intend to meet personally with individual church and community members to gain greater insight into how FUMCR can best use its facilities in order to carry out the mission of the United Methodist Church.

We are honored to serve as members of the Explore First Committee, and we are grateful for the opportunity to work alongside each of you as we take intentional and proactive steps to sustain FUMCR for generations to come. We welcome your thoughts, your suggestions, your hopes, and your dreams for our church.