In this issue of The Steeple we introduce “Key Board Notes,” a new practice of sharing highlights of general interest to the congregation from current and upcoming work of the Parish Board.
Gen FRS Study Group
In October, the Board received the “Gen FRS Study Group” report. This group of Eileen Costello, Stella Okaya, Linda Tulley and Julie Forney Menin, assisted by Peter Francese, was formed by the Board in response to questions raised last year by Julie Parker Amery and others about declining enrollment trends for children in the very youngest age groups at FRS.
Completing their investigations over the summer, the Study Group found “a strong trend nationwide, but especially in New England, of families with children, moving away from traditional church settings.”
“Within the FRS, there is a healthy community of older youth (middle school and high school), and a very healthy community of those 50 and above. We have a smaller cohort of very young children, and very few young adults, especially those without children.”
For the longer term, these trends and our responses are clearly important. Today our programs for children are adapting and evolving year by year. The Board wants to share the study group’s extensive findings in more detail this fall, and will look for help from the congregation to explore possibilities of greatest interest for FRS and our future together.
On other subjects
An agreement has been signed with the Museum of Old Newbury for our historic weathervane. It fulfills all stipulations agreed at annual meeting last year, and the transaction will be completed this fall.
For the Parish Board,
Art Henshaw, Chair