The Oakland Emmanuel Temple and Pittsburg churches are dedicated to fostering community relevance and connecting with their neighbors through compassion and diligence—a mission that aligns with the conference’s strategic anchors.
Each church embarked on this journey toward organizational health in the last year. Their leadership teams have crafted thematic goals that resonate with their congregation and the surrounding community. With a fresh perspective, they evaluate church initiatives to ensure they align, maximizing their impact and effectiveness.
Damon Washington, the district pastor, articulated, “We understand that our internal practices reflect the message we send to our community. Recently, our team addressed a broken chair lift that prevented our access-challenged members from getting around easily. During this process, we realized that we were not projecting a message of care and consideration for our infirm community by not fixing this issue. As a result of this realization, we fixed the chair lift immediately.”
Every leadership team member is empowered to shape the churches’ outreach efforts through inclusive decision-making processes. For instance, a community service day initiative unveiled a neglected weekly service program, a casualty of the pandemic. Through collaborative efforts, they’re revitalizing this program, laying a robust foundation for community engagement.
Washington concluded, “Organizational health and its process has provided a leadership structure that creates a more streamlined approach, member ownership, and efficient, well-planned paths to serving our communities.”
<em>Featured in Northern Lights, March 21, 2024</em>
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