Ready, Fire, Aim

People of God called St. Paul,

Read the Listening Campaign Report first. Here, I’ll focus on “What next?”

At the Listening Campaign Brunch, Jeannette Klare was adamant we use this report to take action. “Are we just going to put this report on a dusty shelf, or are we going to do something?” Jeannette asked this, and I didn’t even slip her any cash before the meeting!

Of all five suggested next steps, Jeannette is most passionate about reducing homelessness in Clinton. So she agreed to set a date and host a meeting of people who are interested in the same thing.

The story, Stone Soup, is the example I shared at the brunch. In that story, the main character is not a master chef. Instead, he goes door to door with a stone and says, “I’m making stone soup. Will you help me?” And the people say, “I don’t know how.” And he answers, “Well, what do you have?” And they say, “carrots” or “tomatoes” or “celery.” And he says, “Great! That’s an ingredient we need! Get it and let’s go make stone soup.”

Jeannette isn’t claiming to be an expert on reducing homelessness. She’s just bringing her stone—her interest in doing something about homelessness—and asking others with the same interest to come and share what they have.

At that same brunch, several others committed to hosting meetings about the other four suggestions. Below, I’ll share all those meeting topics, dates, times, and hosts.

Attracting more people St. Paul, especially young people
Sunday, August 6 after worship in the Lounge
Diane Guntzel and Pastor Clark

Growing St. Paul’s ministry with youth and children
Wednesday, August 2 at 5pm
Donna Jean Holste and Gail Thompson

Creating new small group, bible study, or adult formation opportunities
Monday, July 10 at 9am
John Montieth

Reducing homelessness in Clinton
Sunday, July 9 after worship in the Lounge
Jeannette Klare
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Making building/grounds improvements
Wednesday, July 12 at 9am
Deb Johnson and Gail Thompson

Come to the meetings you have an interest in. If in your one-to-one conversation with a listening team member, you mentioned your interest in one of these topics, you can expect a personal invitation.

If you’re interested, and you can’t make that date and time, be in touch with a host!

What can you expect at these meetings? Expect them to take about hour. Here’s a sample agenda:

1. Opening prayer
2. Participants introduce themselves and why they came
3. List problems and opportunities related to the topic
4. Prioritize a list of 3-5 specific actions participants will take (call them “small but potent steps”)
5. Identify which participants will lead those actions
   (one leader per small but potent step)
6. List people who are not at the meeting but have an interest or a stake in the topic
7. Identify which participants will personally invite them to the next meeting
8. Set a date and time for the next meeting (the purpose: report back on progress, identify new actions to take)
9. Closing prayer

I’ve learned the hard way—when it comes to congregations getting things done—“Ready, Aim, Fire” is the wrong approach. We too often get stuck at “Aim” because we’re stuck in our heads and too afraid of making mistakes. So I encourage a “Ready, Fire, Aim” approach.

After taking action, we step back and reflect on what we learned. Then based on this, we take action again, then reflect again…act, reflect, act, reflect…and so on. This is called the Action-Reflection Model.
The most important challenges in life don’t come with instruction manuals. Trial and error is the only way humans learn. It’s also the only way congregations make progress on their toughest problems.

Jesus’ ministry ended in failure—the cross. And right there, it also began again. In other words, it’s okay with God if we don’t get it right the first time. Jesus says, “Follow me!”
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Thanks be to God.
Pastor Clark Olson-Smith