What Now? (Part I)

We’re excited to report that our Council formally adopted a set of Core Values for Faith this past month, which we believe clearly communicates the “why” of what we do; we’ve included the Core Values statement elsewhere in this newsletter.

The final product came as a result of input given at our first “Picturing Faith Together” gathering in June; then from the values reflections different leaders offered before each of our worship services in the summer; plus from comments given by members in various meetings, on Faith’s website, or at our recent town hall forum.

What’s Next?

Now that we have identified the “why” (our core values), what about the “what” (our concrete plan of action)?

As our Church Council next reviews and potentially revises Faith’s mission and vision statements this fall and winter, we also plan to work with our staff and congregation as a whole to discern how we prayerfully intend to express our core values in service to our community.

Based on our values, this next part of our planning process will begin to address big, practical questions such as:

“Who are Faith’s neighbors, exactly, and what are some of our neighbors’ most important spiritual and material needs?”

“How are we currently ‘making disciples’ as the Body of Christ at Faith, and in what ways might we improve our teaching of baptized members and our reaching out to people who do not yet know Christ?”

“How can we more deeply invest in our preschool and make it even more central to our ministry of caring for young children and families in our community?”

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts on these questions by leaving a comment! We’ll post more questions in the coming weeks but feel free to ask your own too!