I really appreciated the discussion we had the other night about our dreams for the new church. You all had great things to contribute. Here are a few comments from you all (as paraphrased by me):
Karen said that she dreams of a church where people's lives are forced to rub up against each other in a good way. Where we share the substance of life together. Where we can each just bring who we are and what we have to offer without trying to target and market to a particular demographic.
Josh said that he and Karen had talked about a church where people communicate and deal with conflicts openly, and where differences of opinion are welcomed and appreciated.
Monaca said she dreams of an intergenerational church, and
Luke added that he dreams of a church where young adults in particular feel welcomed, valued and integrated into the life of the church.
Char said she dreams of a church where we value people for who they are beyond the stereotypes and demographics. (And Wendy clarified that we do still value diversity and differences too.)
Wendy also said that she dreams of a church that is interactive and where people are committed to being engaged and passionate and not just passively receiving.
I wrapped up the discussion saying that I dream of a church that values the voices of those on the margins and those who have traditionally been excluded from being heard in the church, especially women. We also ended up saying that we want to be a church that values messy people.
While we had a good discussion I regret that we ran out of time to get in depth on the Vision that Julie and I have already come up with. I hope you didn't come away from our meeting feeling like all we talked about was what we don't want to be like. We really do have a very detailed positive vision and set of values that describe what we do want to be like. I'd really like for us to think and dialogue more about that here on this blog and at our next few meetings. Specifically check out pages 9,11,15-17, and 21-23 of the Vision Document.
Tell you what, I'll post segments of those statements here on the blog every few days of the next two weeks and I'd like for us to answer a few questions together:
1) What do you think of each statement?
2) What would you add or leave out?
3) What questions for clarification do you have about them?
4) What do you think it will look like to live out each aspect of our vision statements in specific and practical ways?
For our first discussion let's talk about the section on page 11 entitled "
Our Vision". We've said:
Our vision is at the heart of who we are and what we are trying to be as a church. These are our dreams for the kind of church we can become. We dream of a church that is...
Mission Driven
...an active community that doesn't just seek to enjoy God's blessings for ourselves, but to also be a blessing to the people, the community and the world around us.
Worship Centered
...a worshiping community that values creativity and diversity in the multitude of ways that we seek to experience the joy of God's presence.
Grace Giving
...a warm, welcoming community that extends the love of Christ to people of all types and at all points on their spiritual journey towards God.
Culturally Engaged
...an open community that interacts with our emerging postmodern culture in humble, relevant and constructive ways, believing that we will often find God outside the walls of the church.
What do you think of these? What questions do they raise in your mind? What do you think it will look like to live them out? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Shalom,
Mike
