Since you are reading this, you have found your way to our web site. Before you depart I hope you will look around! I don’t get on it very often, but today I did and it is really comprehensive. Web sites and the information they contain are the way of the future, so people like myself and my fellow luddites are going to need to adapt.
I got on to look up our Mission Statement: St. John’s Episcopal Church is a community of faith made from God; we worship and serve God, welcome all who seek to know and love Jesus Christ, and share Christ’s love by serving others. We warmly invite and welcome new members and visitors to our Church.
Mission Statements, it seems to me, are both aspirational and actual. I think ours is a good illustration of that. It highlights our heritage of outreach, while at the same time pledges us to greet with joy the new experiences and possibilities that come from visitors becoming members and members transformed to leaders in this parish.
Just under our Mission Statement is a vision of our ideal future:
• A church that can put aside differences and celebrate the holiness in each other
• A radically welcoming congregation
• A mission oriented church in which every member is expected to tend to their spirituality and God’s work in the world.
• A church that cares about the welfare of each other
• Multi-generational
• A church that engages each other with respect
• A church that recognizes God’s abundance has been showered upon us and that privilege carries responsibility to serve others in Christ’s name
• A communal church and not one made up of individuals.
I mention the above because in several weeks or so I will begin again our series of Stewardship Notes. These are a series of reflections on St. John’s ministry: children; youth & young adults; outreach; pastoral care; parish life. It is my way to let you know of what we are doing in each of these areas to be faithful stewards of the resources you have made available to us. This year I would love to hear what you think about any or all of these aspects of ministry:
• Tell me stories about how you have been touched by the ministry of a member of the staff or a program you have participated in.
• Share ideas about the future or how we could do something better.
• Let me know about economies we could factor in next year’s budget, program possibilities, ways we could minister more effectively, people and groups we have forgotten.
We have come so far together and yet God still has great plans for us. Perhaps you have heard these plans from on high better than have I. I’d love to hear about it . . . and let me know if I can share it with others.
Beloved, God’s peace.
