The Outreach committee functions as the pastor's assistant. We make certain that visitors who are looking for a church home are welcomed and, when the time is right, invited to be a part of a new-member class and join the church.

This past year, we brought 3 people into membership: Doug & Julie Goodman, and Colleen Kuehn (now Colleen Tilton).

The committee identified 8 couples in our membership who are in the twentysomething age bracket and laid the groundwork for pulling the group together. That group will meet for the first time in January, 2007. After that group has been launched, the committee will look at how we can reach out to the thirtysomethings and more effectively bring them into the life of the church.

The committee looks after three housekeeping duties for the administration of the church. First, the committee attends to the membership roster, making certain that those members who have moved from the community or for other reasons no longer take part in the life of the church are switched to the inactive membership roll and, after an extended period, are dropped from membership altogether. There is an incentive from the presbytery to keep the active-membership portion of the roster current. Annually, we pay to the presbytery a per capita fee of a bit more than $20 for each person we list as an active member of Rock Prairie.

Second, the committee updates the membership directory. We now update the black-and- white directory twice a year, bringing out a winter and a summer edition. Last year for the first time we included in those editions the email addresses of our members who communicate by computer. The committee each fall updates our college student contact information. We did not bring out a photo directory last year as we had initially planned. The photo directory becomes a project for this year.

Third, the committee directs the church's advertising program. Principally, that's the placement of an ad in the AT&T and Century-Tel yellow pages. We also maintain the church's listing in McLeod USA's White Pages. Additionally, at select times of the year, the church advertises in the Janesville Gazette and the Milton Courier.

The congregation adopted new bylaws in September. The bylaws directed that the Outreach and Communications committees be merged. That action put the direction of The Prairie Press monthly newsletter and the oversight of the church sign under Outreach/Communications. The committee began exploring with our webmaster how we can put The Prairie Press up on our church's website so site visitors can read it. We've also begun exploring the use of email as a means of more frequently communicating with church members.

Respectfully submitted, Jerry Peterson, Chairperson