Membership Committee

The mission of the Membership Comittee is to foster a welcoming community by purposefully welcoming newcomers and helping established members connect and reconnect.

We all know St. Margaret's is a great place to belong. But how can we purposefully welcome newcomers and connect/reconnect with our established members? The newly-formed Membership Committee is working on these issues. Come join us and be part of the solution.

The Membership Committee is gearing up for 2006. Top projects include sprucing up the foyer, holding a “Bring a Friend to Church” day, game nights, and reintroducing the shepherding program. We’re offering a little something for everyone. Look for more info to come on each of these activities.

At our first meeting we created a list of things all of us can do to support our membership. Look at our initial list of ideas below. This list will continue to grow, but for now we will begin to prioritize our efforts. Let us know what you think of this list. Either email us or join us for our next meeting.

Newcomers/New Members Coffee hour conversation areas Pew "cheat sheets" to explain the service and St. Margaret's, in particular (referred to Worship Committee) Name tags Welcome pamphlet (in process) In the lobby: *"year in pictures" showing church activities throughout the year (done) *display tri-fold poster used at Heritage Days (done) *calendar of events for coming month Service times on front sign (done) Updated membership directories more regularly Call newcomers/visitors (in process) Newcomer's page on the website (in process) Shepherds - established members support new members as they get more involved Encourage new members to adopt MemberSheep

Established Members Support SMILES (an inreach club) to initiate activities including pot luck dinners, game nights, movie nights (for families), gourmet group Put on a dance Hold a concert event Personal invitations to social activities (in process) More Bible studies (in AM and PM) Create variety of activities with attention paid to gender and age of participants Coffee hour themes - games, "lemonade on the lawn" with bocce or volleyball "Special" nights - CPR training, singles social Work with outreach - clothing drive Coffee hour training for hosts Update the birthday list Send a "You are a member if..." card Orientation event - how to host coffee hour, how to help with the yard work, how to usher, etc.

For more information, please contact Sara Cardinale or call 610-967-1450.

2005 Annual Report

 In March the Vestry charged the membership incubator with welcoming newcomers in a more meaningful way and helping established members feel more valued. At the first meeting a group of established and new members met to brainstorm ways to work towards this goal. Two lists were created – one for new members and one for established members. Each list captures the ways we can value each other more fully. We continue to add to the lists and check off the things we complete.

 Communicating with all of our members – new and established – is a top priority of the membership incubator. To that end, we have created the Information Kiosk, the area located next to the elevette. All sign up sheets and information for parishioners are located in this central location. We have also updated the newcomer’s brochure that answers many questions about St. Margaret’s. Copies to share with newcomers are available in the Information Kiosk. A display copy is available for everyone to peruse. Check it out! We are also putting together a “parish in pictures” board for the foyer – photos of our clergy, vestry, ministry leaders, and newest members. You may have noticed that worship times were also added to our front sign and a visitors section has been added to the website. We are also using the guest book more fully by contacting our newest visitors and inviting them back.

 Valuing our members is also about helping everyone feel welcome. We are working on updating the birthday list, creating “You are a member when…” cards, adding picture to the foyer to show the “life” of the church, and helping with personal invitations to church activities. For our newest members we offered a tour of the building and its history at St. Margaret’s Day.

 With only a few hands, we have accomplished many things. Many more items are still “in progress” or being referred to other committees for action. Throughout the year, the membership incubator has been staffed by a dedicated group of people including Sue Schaffner, Jennifer Burkhardt, Pam Hunter, Rochelle Bachman, Mickie Cardinale, Mark Tillotson, Betsy Diely, Rob Parker, Lexa Shallcross, and Sara Cardinale (chair). We look forward to helping St. Margaret’s grow in the year to come and are already beginning new projects the new year. Look for things to come.

Faithfully submitted,

Sara Cardinale

This page was updated on 7/28/2006