Town Hall Update
Posted on Sep 30, 2026 by Pastor Jealaine Marple
Two weeks ago, we held another town hall meeting at Atonement in our ongoing attempt to listen to pluses and pinch points of our current covenant with Atonement. About 25-30 people attended the meeting. We had a great conversation and also took another survey, and I am pleased to share the feedback and results with you as part of my Staff Trax this week! (We also offered the survey in last week’s e-newsletter and eight people weighed in there.)
The survey was completed by 32 people (including online numbers). The survey questions with corresponding answers were:
In regards to our current collaborative ministry with Atonement, I feel:
- Excited! This is feeling pretty good so far. I am looking forward to what is next. (18)
- Reserved optimism. I am liking things so far but it’s early yet and I have some concerns. (7)
- I don’t hate it but I don’t love it. I am mainly here for the people of Salem. (3)
- I want the real estate team to continue their search and moreover, for Salem to start a capital campaign so we can afford our own place. (2)
- I am here now, but actively searching for a new place to call my church home. (2)
I am grateful to all of you who took time to come to the meeting and to share your feedback. Let’s start with the pluses: people in general enjoy having the space available for social time — especially the narthex/café area. When there are treats and coffee, it’s nice to have others making it. People love having a service with organ as an ongoing option. Many appreciate and enjoy the synergy between the three pastors.
But, there are pinch points as well. There is some concern about the communication and pure volume of it. Signing up to help has been a challenge! We were all encouraged to not roll over so quickly — Salem shouldn’t be the only one to compromise. There was a request to entertain moving the 11:00 a.m. service back to 10:30 a.m. — eventually. While many enjoy the organ, several were concerned about the volume of the organ being too loud.
Some surveys included written comments. These included: “Love the 3x pastor rotation.”; “Our members are so small I don’t think Salem can afford a successful capital campaign.”; “I love this collaboration so much! Can’t wait to see where it goes!”; “Just feel it’s still separate.”; and “This is a collaborative ministry. We will lose some control. But it also offers opportunities.”
Those who took the survey online also offered comments, some of which I will address. “11:00 service time is hard … even though it is only 30 minutes, 10:30 would be great and I’d be all in for that!”; “Also, I felt pretty lost walking into the first day of Sunday school. I got Boo’s email but where is the sunshine room? Are the teachers background checked? Ours didn’t even introduce themselves…”; “Not another capital campaign. Let’s move forward and bless each other”; “How do we know when there will be snacks? I kinda depend on those to get my kiddo through church.”; and “It appears to me that the ‘collaboration’ with Atonement has in reality been an already-decided merger with no other alternatives seriously considered. Rather than all options being discussed and true research done with full transparency, it’s been a charade implying this merge was not essentially a done deal.”
If you have a kiddo in Sunday school, both Atonement and Salem practice “Safe Gatherings” background checks for any and all adults that will be in a leadership position with any child. If an adult is teaching Sunday school, you can rest assured that they have been checked.
There is a desire to have volunteers for the café every week. You also can SIGN UP HERE to help! The weeks it was missing was a simple oversight. Hopefully this is the exception — not the rule.
I want to address that last comment. A merger is not a done deal. Nothing is a done deal other than this covenant for the next nine months or so. The fact is we cannot purchase property without engaging in a capital campaign. The most successful capital campaign would need to include the expertise of a consultant or strategist. I am more than willing to bring information on cost and requirements to work with such companies to our next town hall meeting. If anyone desires to help with this process, my door (or email) is always open. If there are other places where communication is lacking, I hope that those spots are brought to light to me or the council. I am grateful for all the feedback.
Peace in Christ,
Pastor J