THE MAGNETIC CHURCH
Recent Article: A Report of Progress, from
The Church of the Covenant (PC-USA)
2666 Military Road, Arlington, VA 22207
703-524-4115
October, 2004
This week will be the third anniversary of the Magnetic Church conference held at Covenant on October 19 and 20, 2001. In the spring of that year, the session began plans to bring the Magnetic Church presentation to our church. This project brought Andy Weeks and his program to provide a critique and suggestions for change. His basic premise was that there are people who need and are seeking a church. Therefore the conference was to identify actions Covenant could take to bring more visitors in our door, increase attractiveness of our church to them and encourage them not only to make a return visit but to also seek membership.
Covenant Call (the newsletter) was one of the most obvious changes in the beginning. With the recently purchased electronic color printer, the newsletter took on a new look, additional pages and new designs, made possible by our church secretary who, at the session’s request, attended computer classes to master different programs for use with the new equipment. With this equipment, color brochures, programs and mailings of all church programs and activities became possible. Many of these included color photographs of members of our congregation participating in these activities. At the same time, the newsletter was switched from bulk mail to first class to make it more timely.
Following a church-wide survey prepared by the Session’s membership committee, members of each church board were asked to work on suggestions falling within their area of interest. These were many and included landscaping improvements, trimming and cutting, directional signs to assist newcomers, expanded greeter programs with teams and training, and new welcome brochures. They considered new and interesting ideas for worship and music, a second Sunday service, providing new books for the library and refurbishing Fellowship Hall. As time went by, additional ideas with no direct connection to the Magnetic Church weekend surfaced and several of these have also been put in place. Many ideas and suggestions have been quietly implemented, and almost every member has influenced decisions to do so and contributed to their success.
A few examples include: Innovative services including outdoor worship, Sunday Church Musicale, That Great Gettin-Up Morning, Children’s Sunday and the new Children’s Choir, increasing our neighborhood presence with Zoo-to-You and The Camel at Epiphany; refurbishing the education wing’s lobby with updated after-church coffee equipment and beautiful new cabinets, new bulletin boards and furniture, and developing the children’s reading center that has recently been installed.
The largest and most noticeable project is the Fellowship Hall renovation. This was far more than just a decorating project and entailed structural changes such as new windows, replacement of outside wooden walls as well as repair of plumbing in the bathroom floors, overall painting and beautiful new floors for the hall, bathrooms and entryways. Other things unseen and unsuspected, such as the rebuilding of Fellowship Hall’s storage room have also been valuable contributions. A great deal of work was “hands-on” with many hours spent by numerous hardworking members of the congregation.
All of this involved extensive participation of trustees and many helpers with engineering, construction, electrical and organizational abilities. Old records needed to be found and corporate memories searched to find information needed to work on plumbing and electrical systems. Once found, trustees consolidated all of this as well as details of service contracts into a single reference, “The Book” that will be invaluable for future projects.
The Magnetic Church was a moment of coming together of our church family. It has been a valuable vehicle of change and progress from which the church has benefitted. We have improved and expanded our communications among ourselves and with others, We have moved ahead with innovations in our worship services and music programs, improved and beautified our plant and property - and we are hoping that we can always provide a warm welcome to those who need a church home.
These programs, projects and improvements would not have been possible without the whole-hearted participation and support of our entire congregation. Session, Deacons, The Board of Trustees, and The Council on Christian Education continue to work on present and future programs of outreach and evangelism. Our challenge as present members is to pass on a vibrant church dedicated to spreading the word of our Lord. Written by Nora Whalen with input from Peter Kelly and Minter Wilson.