Village Temple Town Hall
January 23 and January 27, 2013
Flip Charts
Following are unedited notes from breakout discussions held at two Village Temple Town Hall Meetings. Each group reported back to an assembly of all participants at each meeting.
Q.1 Why did you join the Village Temple and what do you value now?
Q 2. What are some factors or concerns that have prevented you from engaging with the Temple community?
Q3. What would help you to become more engaged with The Village Temple?
Q4. In what areas should we focus our energy and resources in order to grow and nurture our members?
- Walk to; place/location
- Family comfortable (+1 join= # of additional groups with same comment)
- Youth group
- Grew into Temple
- Spiritual home; not “Jewish lite”
- Support/feel at home/feeling of love; friendly; friendships; community of people in important moments; family feel; comfortable community (+1)
- Membership we could relate to; kind of “fit” for varied families and individuals
- Female Rabbi and Cantor\Members provide intellectual stimulus; clergy; very high IQ women; not so bad men; depth of Rabbi’s character and IQ as a religious leader; Cantor Faith (+1); Rabbi
- Board operating on high level
- Children’s choir (+ 2 join)
- Religious school at first – (+6 join)
- Son’s friends went to Village Temple; recommended from friends
- Community (+3 join); community engagement for seniors – we want to b e busy; people and long-term relationships
- Jewish I.D. (join)
- Adult education
- Reform Movement/Social/Political; best of Reform Judaism; Liberal Reform mind set (+2 join)
- New model congregation; unique
- Interfaith welcome; inclusive; Diversity; LGBT; secular (+7 join)
- Values (via choir, personal qualities, community) (join)
- Social Justice/soup kitchen (+2)
- Life event support (+1); marriage, family, b’nai mitzvot (join)
- Services (+1 join)
- Good timing of services (join)
- Hooked in by music and dancing in the aisles (+1)
- Synaplex
- Access to HH svcs and children’s choir
- Activities for congregants
- Tolerance
- Balance of casual, intellectual and spiritual
- Bar Mitzvah lessons
- Melodic Erev Shabbat services
- Community (+1)
- Relations with members
- Relations with clergy (non-dogmatic)
- Clergy involved in school and community
Q 2. What are some factors or concerns that have prevented you from engaging with the Temple community?
- Time +3
- Feeling that we are looking only at goals and financials
- Finances – payment for programs
- Trying to innovate – “booted out” – too tightly sticking to agenda.
- Seeking more direct contact with Rabbi. Have her more involved with children.
- Some kids don’t feel engaged by religious school. Lack of strong youth group
- Not participating enough – programs not designed to reflect people’s needs; lack of interconnection among various parts of congregation
- Musical choices –sing-along
- Don’t see the people we can identify with; knowing each other intimately
- Broader participation of leadership and management
- Difficulty dealing with Board re financial hardship issues; lack of respect by Board
- Synagogue is not a gym (need to teach the religious school kids respect)
- Distractions/demands of life; overcommitted (values re family life outside of obligations)
- Need to measure involvement; lack of involvement with members – tragedy/sickness; senior clergy – Board;
- Empty nesters (lacking programs for them)
- Need more social activities for adults; lack of programs for older members ; Sisterhood events/lack of social and cultural events
- Awareness of membership re interfaith families
- Desire for more appealing programs
- Need more volunteers
- Transparency (lack of?)
- Need an Executive Director (volunteers doing this work now)
- Message focuses too much on downtrodden
- Create more opportunities to connect comfortably; want warmth and connection
- Earlier Friday night services – 6:30?; different times of service -- summer
- Desire to connect Shabbat service to outside world
- Services repetitive; desire for more diversity and creativity in services
- Occasionally ineffective communication; community (village) response re recycling -- who to talk to?; poor communication – class list in 3rd grade; website, newsletter – various modalities to reach people
Q3. What would help you to become more engaged with The Village Temple?
- Create opportunities for people to have a voice (platforms like this one) + 1
- Needs to be less “cliquey” -- more opportunities for people to get to know each other; more intra-community involvement; name tags for Oneg; clarity on how to engage
- Newsletter; book club – look at past programs ( +1); what worked? Leverage (people vote with their feet)
- Pot luck dinners; small group dinners
- Folk dancing
- Trips – museums –parent involvement, speakers, charitable events (school/class-connected); trips to Israel for kids (organized); service trips
- More warmth
- Other than intellectual connections
- Greater openness (e.g. Board)
- More opportunities for involvement/engagement; multiple points of entry/involvement; intellectual and cultural programs for adults, including young, such as URJ Renaissance Group; Chavuarot groups –i.e., small study groups; adult choir
- More publicity of these opportunities; communication re events - electronic
- Social action for all to join; focused on soup kitchen - -have different events (i.e. Hurricane Sandy)
- Films
- Consistency in programs (have a few programs that run regularly)
- Stability and continuity of clergy with standing in the larger Jewish community
- Resources within community – know each other, mine community for talents, resources (artists, filmmakers, food, culture – book readings, films, etc.
- Hebrew school - involve parents, help them meet, opportunities to learn Jewish ritual, field trips
- Who are we? Revisit
- Disorganized office – hard to make appointments
- New volunteers (Board, other)
- College kids – engage them – high holiday roles, volunteer events
Q4. In what areas should we focus our energy and resources in order to grow and nurture our members?
- Focus on retaining members (easier than getting new ones) +1
- Programs – wider participation in design; foster member initiatives; great town meeting – do more; involve with feelings and concerns more often; get more people involved – not necessarily Board member – planning events; member involvement beyond religious activities to connect members
- Focus on social connections – appreciated outreach after Hurricane Sandy
- Career fair for leadership
- Innovation – build on strengths; draw on track record established – historical strengths/activities
- What can we do to keep kids post bar mitzvah?; +1
- Friday night services at 6:30 all year
- Better managed and updated database; office resources; interns from HUC/JIR
- Increase finance by lower dues and more families
- Membership directory; Temple directory via LinkedIn, Facebook
- Referral list – who has skills and resources within the congregation
- Social director available on Friday night to facilitate new members; every person and every Board member should reach out to new people; engage with people, welcome, outreach, know each other
- Town meeting on religious school
- Better communication: newsletters, emails, group emails; website, newsletter, phone system; social media – blog; Better website
- Include congregation in Board meetings
- More responsive Board with more input from congregation before major decisions
- Better communication re what is being done. Communicate differently; listen differently
- More activities (music, ethnic, books); more Synaplex/Israel; additional groups ( books, etc., films, concerts; involvement for demographic groups (very active seniors, kids, etc. 20+, 30+, 40+; defunct Sisterhood – target better and more effective programs; young 30’s members; additional activities without additional costs
- Encourage volunteering (required as membership); engagement of congregation/kids in community service; kids in Hebrew school connect with elderly; recruit volunteers to run Temple programs
- Organizer – how to organize clubs, events
- Community events underwritten
- More social action opportunities
- Tours and field trips
- Reach out to young adult members – e.g., Birthright programs
- More Jewish programs – kids – school holidays
- Long-term planning/multi-year projects/programs
- Short-term programming re common interests (less than 1 x month; less than 1 year commitment; more people to help create program)
- Outside speakers on pertinent subjects/topical issues
- Focus on liberal Judaism, relevance to community
- How does contemporary Judaism support our lives – intermarriage, single parents, better outreach to bereaved people; celebrating life transitions
- Tap community resources (e.g., for program delivery)
- Religious school parents
- Structural revision (Board size? Nomination?)
- Board recruitment
- Know how to get involved -- what is there?; communication about existing programs (media communications?, Facebook communications? (social media)
- Music from Cantor is large draw – musical excellence vs. musical creativity – what have other congregations done?
- Schedule
- Survey congregation to identify interests (vs. top down approach)
- More financially wise (little things)
- Way to bring back those members feeling not included re Cantor
- Executive Director (+1)or Assistant Rabbi
- Look at retention issue for clergy
- Broaden geographical reach