You’ve worked hard during our Transition time and you’ve accomplished a lot.  Ministerial candidates will be really interested in the issues you’ve wrestled with and the work we’ve done.  THEY’LL be paying attention to what WE’RE paying attention to.

Recently, we’ve been paying attention to defining our Identity.

A clear statement of Core Values, Mission and Vision will help us…

• Describe First Parish to candidates in an accurate and precise manner
• Focus on what is really important
• Direct our Strategic Plan

You’ve been highly engaged in articulating our Values and forming our Vision.  The Transition Team has done our best to synthesize all we have heard from you, a diverse spiritual community.

Recently, we’ve noticed that your suggested changes are matters of nuance, emphasis or priority.  One member will request an expression of stronger commitment to one thing, while another member will request emphasis on something else.

It’s clear that no particular set of words will ever seem perfect to everyone.  And we realize that the words will need to change over time as the congregation and the world around us changes.  So, we have decided to declare the current version “Final For Now.”

We’re considering it a living document that establishes a strong direction and may continue to evolve slightly during the course of our strategic planning work and the search process.  We think it describes the First Parish community as a whole, and we hope you do too.

We will be scheduling a time to talk about this and the remainder of our Transition work later in the month of March.