In 2023, Ingersoll Christian Reformed Church embarked on a process to create a plan to help give us direction for the next chapter of our story. From that process, through the help of a team and the approval of leadership and the congregation, the following plan was developed. These 5 initiatives are priorities which our church seeks to accomplish in the next 3-5 years through the miraculous help of the Holy Spirit.

​​1.   Small Groups
This initiative is to allow deliberate time to love and learn from God’s word along with peers. During the meetings, everyone will get to discover more from God’s word and sharing what you discovered will be strongly encouraged. This will be conducted in a structured process led by volunteer leaders. Training and support will be provided for the leaders. Any member, young and old may participate, regardless of the depth of their knowledge of scripture. The organizing of the groups will be conducted by a small committee that includes a Vision Team member. People interested may sign up and then be intentionally assigned to groups to allow for appropriate gatherings.
The meetings will be seasonal to allow for some periods for reflection and breaks. Several options for frequency are proposed including: Three months at once per week, Four to Six weeks total, or for the duration of fall to spring. For the longer duration period, the meetings could start at a high frequency of weekly and then move towards bi-weekly or monthly meetings to make the groups more sustainable. Group members may take turns to host meetings at their homes. Gathering over food and drink can help ease people into collaboration.
Small group ministry will provide a means of strengthening interchurch relationships. The intent here isn’t to find your new best friends but rather to draw each of us closer together in our love of God. These settings will have a direct impact on everyone’s personal faith as well. Discovering more of what God means for us will allow us to know him and each other on a deeper level. Better understanding will come with time because it can be hard. Focusing on ‘What did you discover?’ is less intimidating.
There are many resources available for the overseeing committee to utilize. It is not expected that our volunteer leaders be experts however, providing training and support for them will be key to the success of each small group. Marion Lensink may be contacted for knowledge on successfully running small groups.
 
2.   Devotionals and Bible Study
This initiative is to provide challenging and thought-provoking content for personal devotions. This can be set up as a communal challenge where several devotions may be a part of Sunday service themes. Also, the congregation may have the opportunity to get together at the end of it to share and reflect. A dedicated Sunday in the fellowship hall could be the venue for this. The duration of each section of devotions will be based around other ministries to avoid too much overlap (ie. Summer, December/January). These devotions will allow us all to work on loving our God and what he has provided for us.
Anyone within or outside of our church is welcome to the devotions. These will be set to focus on personal meditation with God’s word and connect stronger with the recent Sunday sermon themes. Digital and print copies will be available in members' mailboxes and on our website / social media pages. These devotions will be started after the initial Small Groups season has completed. Only a couple of volunteers are needed to coordinate this. Tools such as Chat GBT may be utilized to generate appropriate questions from Sunday sermons.
 
3.   Partner and Support with Community Groups
This initiative is to develop partnerships and provide support to community groups that already understand the opportunities within our community, and that understand the paths to success that create lasting impacts. Several community groups have a professional approach to addressing the needs of housing, hunger, safety, and community for those in challenging times. Partnerships with these groups will allow the spiritual gifts of our members to be leveraged in a directly impactful way. We will listen and respond to the needs known by our partners and provide support as directed by them. This initiative directly ties in with our values as a reformed denomination.
Ingersoll CRC will partner with two to three groups. A name/vision for this initiative needs to be created that will help unify everyone. The deacons are empowered to steer this initiative and decide on the partnerships, communication, and timeframes. A couple of people are needed to help keep the deacons accountable. All members are encouraged to support these partnerships. The partnerships will be with local groups so we may deliberately love our community.
A volunteer culture will be developed within the church through this. Personal invites and encouragement to members will be an excellent way to communicate this opportunity. Additionally, weekly presentations/updates from participants to the church on Sunday morning will allow everyone to better understand the impacts this initiative will have.
 
4.   Loving Each Other
This initiative is to provide an open group for young mothers to meet and build relationships that are otherwise difficult to develop at that life stage. All women may be involved to help with kids and provide support. The nature of the meetings will be focused on social interactions, developing relationships, and providing support. It will be an opportunity to host speakers from Public Health and have others come speak on safety, mental health, etc. Also sharing of meal planning, recipes, home canning etc. This group will be open to members and mothers from our community. Intentionally inviting our neighbours is an important part and provides a no-strings-attached entry into the church to potentially discover more and feel called to worship. These meetings will occur at the church once per week on a weekday morning. Planning will begin in September and the meetings will be mid-day during the week. A volunteer to act as the facilitator of these meetings and outreach will be required. A vision should also be set to help unify people. Finally, some infrastructure could be helpful such as toys or providing activities.
 
5.   Collaboration between church ministries
This initiative is to encourage our various ministries to have an ongoing dialogue where they can plan for cross-interactions between the groups to allow them to all understand each other’s ministries. This should allow for greater retention of participants from one group to another as they become older. These interactions will also reduce the intimidation that could be a factor for some moving into new groups. This requires ministry leaders to maintain regular dialogue.
The last day of each program would be a good opportunity for promotion. Also Sunday morning announcements to share the news. Pamphlets could be generated from material already up on our website that could then be given to parents. A clear vision is needed prior to this promotion to get the various ministry leaders unified. This also provides opportunities for leaders to share possible needs that another group could help with.