BEEMOCRACY
CONVERSATION
grounding
ourselves in our common vision
Mission Statement
(2014 Strategic Planning)
Wellington UCC:
where prayer and action inspire and challenge
all who join the journey
to embody God’s hope and healing
in Chicago and the world
Core Values
(from our 2014 Strategic Planning)
November 2019 – The vote on our future!
Shall we dissolve the congregation?
Yes - 7 No - 21
Shall we sell our building? Yes – 23 No - 5
Shall we continue as a community of faith?
Yes – 25 No - 3
We called Ann-Louise as our pastor in June of 2020
sold the building in September of 2020
and the Dream Team was formed
in January of 2021!
Dream Team Mandate:
- identify locations to meet for worship on our nomadic journey (took us to Centro Romero)
- propose “big ideas” on how to best use our human & financial resources to do God’s work in the world
Members of the Dream Team
Mark Birge-Anderson Colleen Harper
Darlene Dehne Debbie Lee
Jordan Dobrowski Jeffery Moseley
Ann-Louise Haak
Led by “Coach” David Ullrich
Dream Team
(2021)
- Led the process of developing a new church logo
- Encouraged us to drop “Avenue” from our name
- Conducted a congregational survey (19 respondents)
Dream Team
Survey Summary:
- need to attract younger folks to keep going into the future
- desire to keep our core values at the forefront
- desire to continue providing a strong Zoom presence
- strong preference for multi-purpose location for worship,
learning, outreach, and office space all in one
- 47% preferred less than 30-minute travel time to location
with less than an hour (29%) as a second choice
- 78% drove their cars to our former location
Dream Team
Main Purpose into the Future:
Top Choice (11 respondents) =
- engaging in direct social action – feeding
the hungry, welcoming refugees, supporting
our black and brown siblings - in ways
that are appropriate for our size
Dream Team
Main Purpose into the Future:
Tied for Second Choice (8 respondents) =
- being a supportive community to each other
AND
- providing dynamic worship services
with a focus on social justice
Dream Team
One Respondent’s Summary:
“Partner / share (rent) a worship / office /
community space in a physical location that
more easily welcomes and is accessible to a
diverse, multi-generational, racially diverse
collective of people who can participate with
authentic voices and experiences to teach and
lead Wellington in new ways”
Dream Team
Using the Outreach Committee’s focus areas as a framework for inspiration –
racial, immigrant, environmental, food, &
housing justice -
they came up with some “BIG IDEAS” for our future!
Dream Team
“Big Ideas”
- Support a Community Garden
* WILD (Wellington Institute for Leadership
Development) - pilot project in partnership
with AFSC, coordinated by Debbie Southorn
summer 2022 with 4 youth team leaders and 15
youth participants ($52K budget)
Dream Team
“Big Ideas”
* Urban Forests - $10K grant to Open Lands
* Adopt-a-Beach - participated in beach
cleanup day through Alliance for the Great
Lakes + $15K grant
- Wellington Wagon - vehicle outfitted with
shower/toilet for food delivery to homeless
encampments and more.
Church Retreat 2022
Participants: 15
Theme: The Simplicity of Home
– what do we need to feel spiritually at home
in a new place?
Art Activity: prayer bracelets, and decorating
pillar candles with themes of “home”
Church Retreat 2023
Participants: 24
Theme: Waggling our Way into the Future
– what does “church” mean to you/us?
– “waggle dance” presentations = 4 locations
Art Activity: building our honeycomb with Lisa D.
Church Retreat 2023
Reflections shared on what church means to us:
Church Retreat 2023
If we used just THREE words to describe our community, what would they be?
SOCIAL JUSTICE
WELCOMING activism
celebrating difference in ”edgy” ways
RELATIONSHIP SUPPORT
in all its fullness through Outreach
to self … to God during family
to community/the world difficulties/emergencies
Church Retreat 2023
“Waggle Dance” Presentations:
- Jane Addams Hull House on UIC Campus
- First Church of the Brethren
in East Garfield Park
- Nambu Chapel at North Shore
Baptist Church in Edgewater
- Firehouse in Rogers Park
Church Retreat 2023
Consensus to further explore:
Nambu Chapel at North Shore Baptist Church in Edgewater
First Church of the Brethren
in East Garfield Park
“Residency” at Nambu Chapel/NSBC from March 2023 – August 2024 (18 months)
“Residency” at First Church of the Brethren Sept. 2024 – July 2025 (11 months)
Congregational vote scheduled for January 2025 delayed until
June 22, 2025
Church Retreat 2024
Participants: 20
Theme: “Growing Like Trees”
– what do you need to thrive in this season?
– what are you able to share in this season?
Art Activity: watercolors with Brenda F.
Church Retreat 2024
Church Retreat 2024
What’s the Buzz?
January 11, 2025
Participants: 28
Theme: Informing our Hearts
– where do you want to see Wellington
establish our new hive, and why?
What’s the Buzz?
January 11, 2025
Learnings from our nomadic journey:
- need strong internet connections
- want a comfortable, inviting, aesthetically
pleasing worship space
- need to feel welcomed and at home in the space
- opportunities for partnership are energizing
What’s the Buzz?
January 11, 2025
- having a true Sanctuary space is meaningful
- a church should be able to make some
contribution or establish some positive,
supportive connections with the actual
community where we are located
What’s the Buzz?
January 11, 2025
- difference between being a guest and
part of a community
- both church spaces offer a spiritual sense that
the non-church spaces do not; many distractions
in the non-church spaces
What’s the Buzz?
January 11, 2025
Nearly everyone agreed:
“I’M WILLING TO GO ANYWHERE
IN ORDER TO BE PART OF THIS COMMUNITY”
OBSERVATIONS