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Upcoming
Schedule:
February 9
6:30-8:30 pm Focusing Ministry - Summit #3
February 12
1:00-5:00 pm Focusing Ministry - Summit #3
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Our
Focusing Ministry program kicked off on November 10th and
continued on November 13th with in Summit #1: Assessing Where
Have We Been. We celebrated and looked critically at the past
and envision the future that God already has planned for our
congregation. Summit One was well-attended from members from
high school through senior adults. We gathered together in
table groups which allowed for a lot of discussion but also
enjoyed time for all to share in conversation as a large group.
On Thursday night we identified our churches ministry milestones
and created a journey wall that spanned all 151 years in the
life of our church. It was great seeing what people remembered
taking place over the years. From there we assessed the good
and the bad while remembering the best way to go forward is
to examine the past.
On Sunday we continued by discussing actual values the participants
felt are within the church. Each group brainstormed a list
of five values and defined what those values represented.
The values deemed to be at our core as a congregation are
community outreach; our youth; the church's historical structure
and tradition; diverse, biblically-based worship, and fellowship.
We encourage you to reflect upon these values and challenge
yourself to see if there are values standing behind these
values. Another defining moment of the day came with time
to listen to God - each person spent 50 minutes in silent
prayer time surrendering ourselves and the church to God.
We reconvened to discuss what we heard from God in our time
alone and had group prayer allowing us to surrender the church
- its past and its future - to God. The ministry milestones
listed on the journey wall and the values discussion will
help to guide the development of the church's vision statement
and subsequent the upcoming Summit 2 that will be held in
January and focus on discovering where we are going.
Please remember, this is an opportunity for the entire congregation
to come together and to
discover the work that God has been doing. If you were not
able to join us for Summit 1 we strongly encourage you to
participate in Summits 2 and 3. Please pray for us - if we
are to succeed in doing the work God chooses for us, we need
to ask for His help! There will be a Focusing Ministry table
each week in Whitney Hall during coffee hour. A team member
will be there to answer questions and receive feedback/suggestions
- please be sure to stop by, whether you were at the first
summit or not. |
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