January 2008
From the Pastor:
Happy New Year! As we begin our year at First Presbyterian Church, the session will start a book study entitled "Simple Church." The question is why?
We are in the midst of what some are calling "A Simple Revolution." Corporations like Apple Computer and Papa John's Pizza have looked at the way they do business and have decided to simplify. They have done this by looking at their mission statements and by cutting items from their businesses that make things complicated.
In the life of the church this process is called discernment. Part of what session does is engage in the process of discernment regularly. This process allows the session to take the spiritual pulse of the congregation. As spiritual leaders of this congregation, session takes this role seriously and tries to vision how it can help the church members grow in their spiritual journey.
As part of this discernment process over the last four months, the session has discovered the reality that we are called to make disciples. It was refreshing to hear the congregation articulate this too when we held two town hall meetings last September. The message for the session from you the congregation was "We must grow."
So during the next nine months the session will take time to study God's word and to evaluate the current ministry programs of First Presbyterian Church. Our hope is to develop a process that helps our members grow spiritually so that as we grow we can help new comers also grow in their spiritual journey once they come to First Presbyterian Church.
In essence we will look at how we can simply walk people through a spiritual maturity process. And this means that we will look at all that we do and say. We will ask ourselves some fundamental questions like, "How does this program help people love God, love self, and love their neighbor?" or "How does this ministry help members live out our mission statement of loving God, following his Son, learning His ways, sharing God’s grace, and serving the world."
Being a "Simple Church" means being clear about what it is we do and why we do it. It also means having a clear sense of movement or knowing where we are headed. And this means removing any congestion that gets in the way of the ministry. It's about being faithful to where God is now leading the church.
Being a "Simple Church" means engaging in a process of alignment, thus maximizing the energy of everyone. It means engaging in things that really matter and that move the church folks toward spiritual maturity and discipleship. Finally, being a "Simple Church" means focus. It means that there will be things we won't do because those things don't fit into our new vision for the church any more.
As we begin this journey, the session, together with a "Simple Church Team," will ask the congregation for prayer. Prayer is one tool God gave His church that effectively transforms lives. So please pray for us.
We will also covenant with the congregation to provide information and guidance throughout the next nine months through our monthly newsletter, sermons, and moments for mission. A copy of the Simple Church book is available in our church library. Anyone is welcome to take it and read it.
Our prayer is that as we discern God's will for First Presbyterian Church, each member encounters the transforming power of God. And thus as each person is transformed, we continue becoming the disciples Jesus called us to be, disciples who see the great commission of making disciples their true calling.
Until next time.
Peace and grace,
Pastor Mara
Happy New Year! As we begin our year at First Presbyterian Church, the session will start a book study entitled "Simple Church." The question is why?
We are in the midst of what some are calling "A Simple Revolution." Corporations like Apple Computer and Papa John's Pizza have looked at the way they do business and have decided to simplify. They have done this by looking at their mission statements and by cutting items from their businesses that make things complicated.
In the life of the church this process is called discernment. Part of what session does is engage in the process of discernment regularly. This process allows the session to take the spiritual pulse of the congregation. As spiritual leaders of this congregation, session takes this role seriously and tries to vision how it can help the church members grow in their spiritual journey.
As part of this discernment process over the last four months, the session has discovered the reality that we are called to make disciples. It was refreshing to hear the congregation articulate this too when we held two town hall meetings last September. The message for the session from you the congregation was "We must grow."
So during the next nine months the session will take time to study God's word and to evaluate the current ministry programs of First Presbyterian Church. Our hope is to develop a process that helps our members grow spiritually so that as we grow we can help new comers also grow in their spiritual journey once they come to First Presbyterian Church.
In essence we will look at how we can simply walk people through a spiritual maturity process. And this means that we will look at all that we do and say. We will ask ourselves some fundamental questions like, "How does this program help people love God, love self, and love their neighbor?" or "How does this ministry help members live out our mission statement of loving God, following his Son, learning His ways, sharing God’s grace, and serving the world."
Being a "Simple Church" means being clear about what it is we do and why we do it. It also means having a clear sense of movement or knowing where we are headed. And this means removing any congestion that gets in the way of the ministry. It's about being faithful to where God is now leading the church.
Being a "Simple Church" means engaging in a process of alignment, thus maximizing the energy of everyone. It means engaging in things that really matter and that move the church folks toward spiritual maturity and discipleship. Finally, being a "Simple Church" means focus. It means that there will be things we won't do because those things don't fit into our new vision for the church any more.
As we begin this journey, the session, together with a "Simple Church Team," will ask the congregation for prayer. Prayer is one tool God gave His church that effectively transforms lives. So please pray for us.
We will also covenant with the congregation to provide information and guidance throughout the next nine months through our monthly newsletter, sermons, and moments for mission. A copy of the Simple Church book is available in our church library. Anyone is welcome to take it and read it.
Our prayer is that as we discern God's will for First Presbyterian Church, each member encounters the transforming power of God. And thus as each person is transformed, we continue becoming the disciples Jesus called us to be, disciples who see the great commission of making disciples their true calling.
Until next time.
Peace and grace,
Pastor Mara
posted by harmon at
6:36 PM
