This has been an eventful year, and as is tradition in this time, it’s good to review and see how we did. I spoke back in June how I do Three Things. In this post, I’ll review how things shook out. In my next post, I will then give you my NEXT three things.

Luke’s Listening Tour
The Idea: Take at least three months before making any major decisions or changes. This will help me soak up your stories, values, and history. I will take a page from Jesus and gather around tables, hear and tell crazy stories, and talk about God to anyone who will invite me.

Results: From my first day in office on April 10 to July 20th, I had 28  separate visits (not counting pastoral visits). Some were one-on-one and others were a whole group. During this time, I dug into the history of the church through annual reports and histories here as well as the history of the town. I loved this practice, and the hospitality I was shown. I loved hearing all the stories, and it sure has helped in remembering your names!

Start an Education Program
The Idea: One of the priorities I’ve heard from the search committee, Pastor Josh, and many of you around the table is that we need an adult Bible study. After my three month tour, I will set up a program that will launch sometime in the fall.

Results: The Basic Series ran for 6 Thursdays. We started with 60 on the first two meetings! (9/14 and 9/21). Then it went to 40 (10/5), then 20 (10/12), 25 (10/19), and ended with 14 (11/2). It was a great time! Since our meetings were broken up by council, I feel that affected our attendance. However, I’m not discouraged with these numbers. My personal goal was to have 10, and we’ve exceeded that goal each and every time!

This has helped me figure out where you are in how you approach the Bible, think theologically, and where your passions are. Hopefully, we gathered a new understanding of The Prophet Jonah.

Social Media
The Idea: I will make social media a priority, starting with Facebook and this blog. I will gather a team and get on other platforms to get our message out and invite others into the life of the church.

The Results: Facebook likes as of April 10, 2017, were 166. As of December 5, 2017, we have 267. That’s 101 new  digital friends!

We started Instagram and Twitter accounts, both handles are @MedinaU3C. We have 98 Followers on Instagram and 13 follows on Twitter. Not bad starts! To help build on this momentum, a social media team has been formed, and I will continue to work with them to keep up our digital evangelism efforts!

We’re off to a strong start! Thanks for being a part of this. Alone, I couldn’t have done any of this. Together, we ARE the church! Thank you so much for showing up and offering your time, talent and treasure. Let’s keep the momentum going into 2018!