Church Directory

If you haven't already, be sure to fill out a Directory Update form for your family so we can include your correct information in the 2006 Church Directory.

What is the purpose of the directory?
My hope is that the directory will be a tool to build bridges within the church. Most everyone's address information is already published in the phone book, but it's a little cumbersome to try and figure out which Miller family I was talking to in church last Sunday. The church directory helps in that department. We also list the names of children so if you're teaching a Sunday School class you can associate the child with their parent(s).

Why does the Church ask for this information?
One, we would like the directory to be accurate, otherwise it's useless. Two, it helps us track our congregration. For us to be effective in our ministry, we need to have a good understanding of who are people are. Three, it helps us communicate things related to church like changes in event schedules or prayer requests and though we hope we rarely have to, emergency information. We ask for the work contact information in case we need to track people down during business hours. We recognize the information as sensitive, so we respect requests to keep phone numbers unlisted and we do not publish the work information outside of the church office.

Why doesn't the Church publish email addresses?
I've debated for the past five years whether we to publish email addresses and to date we've decided to leave them unpublished. Our reasoning is that email addresses seem to change more frequently than our other information which would render the directory inaccurate. We do keep the email addresses for church office use and work hard to keep it up-to-date, but it is a difficult challenge.

When will the next directory be published?
Our target publication date is Sunday, November 6. My goal is to have the directory available each year on the first Sunday in November. That gives us enough time to collect the address information from those who have started attending Grace in the Fall, yet getting the information out before the end of the calendar year.

When will the next pictorial directory be published?
Grace has been publishing pictorial directories every 3 years since the 1970s - you should see the archived copies :). The pictorial directory is designed to help put faces with names and they've also become a visual history of the church. We're slated to start working on our next directory in 2006 to be published in November 2006. Though we've used Olan Mills for many years, we will explore some other companies this time for a change of pace.

One Final Request
Always remember, the Church Directory is designed to help people at Grace Church connect. It is not to be used for business purposes. The directory is only as good as the information it contains. If it is used for business purposes, people may be less willing to give us their information which would decrease the value of the directory.