Dear friends,
On Saturday, January 22nd, a group of 18 of us gathered in the Family Life Center to envision ministries for our church. We were split into three groups: Administrative Structure, Mission and Ministry, and Buildings and Property. After we met for a little while and I heard snippets of several conversations I realized we were talking about “here” (Buildings and Property), “there” (Mission and Ministry), and “how to hold it all together” (Administrative Structure). There was a lot of really great conversation, and some ideas have already come out of that meeting that I hope we will be able to build on as we go into 2022.
Like many of you, I have been a part of these visioning processes a bunch of times, and nothing has come of it. I’ve even led those conversations, and nothing has come of it. There is a lot of enthusiasm that comes with dreaming, but not so much in the doing. Or the task before us seems daunting, and so we give up. It is like looking at a mountain to climb, deciding it will be too much work, so we just stay where we are, missing out on the adventure of accomplishing something, but also the views from the top. Of course, there is risk involved, but that is the case with anything worthwhile. I am trying to put some things in place, including this letter to all of you, so that this visioning process we just went through does not float off into the wind. Please ask me about it. Ask me to update the congregation or small groups, so we can see these things through.
There was a set of questions that I asked the group that I want us all to consider, “What are the groups in which I am currently involved?” “How can I be the church for those groups?” We all interact and flow through our communities on a daily basis. How can we be the church in those places? It is my hope that we will be able to have mission reports from everyone in the congregation every week. That we can tell people about what we have been doing in our communities to help realize the beatific vision God has in store for our community. I hope we can all go on this adventure together.
Peace,
Jordan