New Vision for the Common Mission at St. Mary s Lutheran Church Version Date: MM/DD/YYYY Introduction The purpose of the Vision Team was to listen, pray, and discern for what it means to live out our call to discipleship as taught in Matthew 28, Go therefore and make disciples of all. An Initial survey in December of 2014 indicated that there were 3 main themes for further conversation: inspirational worship; connecting people with a group, mission, or ministry outside of worship; and getting timely and transparent information from church leadership. Listening Sessions were held with over 200 members attending, including middle school and high school youth. The Vision Team, with the leadership of the pastors, has developed this document which identifies our Mission Statement, Core Practices, and some mission and ministry themes which will help lead our congregation in the next few years. Historically, congregations in North America have used the score card of worship attendance, building, and the fiscal budget to determine the health of the congregation. All good things to consider, however, there is little evidence that this emphasis has helped to make more faithful or loving disciples. Reggie McNeal s book, Missional Renaissance, Changing the Scorecard for the Church, says: Program-driven churches and ministry organizations operate on suspect but often unchallenged assumption. These assumptions are that people will be better off if they just participate in certain activities and processes that the church or organization has sanctioned for its ministry agenda. The problem is that study after study continues to reveal that active church members do not reflect a different value set than the culture at large.they wonder, Where s the abundant life that was promised if we only participated more? The answer is that achieving abundant life will require intentional personal development. This is not a given in the program-driven modality of operation; the only real guarantee is that the church will keep people busy. P. 10 There is urgency for our congregation to move beyond just keeping people busy with church activities. Our hope is that we are forming people who experience joy, who know the story of Page1
faith, and who are engaged with the community and world with service and generosity. As St. Irenaeus says, The glory of God is a human being fully alive. The purpose of this document is to provide a new vision for this intentional formation of Christian discipleship. This report will be organized as follows: What We Do - Purpose and Mission Who We Are - Core Practices of our Congregation: 1. Living as an inclusive community 2. Growing Disciples 3. Connecting people 4. Practicing Generosity What We Imagine our Congregation to Be in the Future Conclusions from the Listening Sessions The Listening Sessions produced some specific questions. The FAQs will be added in this document. Our Mission and Purpose Page2
Who we are Living in an inclusive community In John 17, Jesus prays that all his followers might be one. The Church confesses in the Nicene Creed that we are the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic community. We are One Body of Christ; we are inclusive in that the Gospel is for all people. We are a community that does not build walls but opens doors. We do this in the following ways: We proclaim an open Invitation to all to partake in Holy Communion when we worship. The Bible teaches that God so loved the world reminds us that the Good News of Jesus Christ is for everyone. Our core teaching is we are saved by grace through faith. This promise reveals to us a loving and merciful God. We are blessed with an ecumenical spirit with people of faith from other traditions and practice generous hospitality to those we encounter in worship, activities, and in the community. Children participate in worship not just as passive members of the congregation, but they share in the leadership of music, reading of Scripture, and children s message. Our community and the larger church are blessed with women in leadership roles. What we imagine A community which is growing into the changing social-economic, ethnic, and cultural diversity of our city and nation to confront any barrier which might keep us from living an inclusive Gospel. We as leaders, Council and Staff, will live out this vision by establishing yearly goals that create opportunities to grow in diversity and by making St. Mary s Church a safe and welcome place for all God s people. Who we are Growing disciples St. Paul speaks about the renewing of your minds in Romans 12. Martin Luther wrote of Holy Baptism as a daily turning from death to new life. We believe that the Christian disciple is to be changing, turning, learning, renewing, discovering and growing in faithfulness to God; we do this in the following ways: Page3
Word and Sacrament will be the defining center of all worship. Worship services offer a diversity of musical and liturgical styles to engage, inspire, and teach a diverse congregation. Youth formation/ministry also includes formation for the parents. Faith formation is more than classroom education. It happens in action, Bible study, prayer, worship, meditation, stewardship challenges, service in the community, and even in play and dinner conversation. Adult classes will focus on spirituality and prayer rather than learning facts or theological talking points. Spiritual formation is holistic and transformative. What we imagine A community which moves beyond attending worship in a church building to experiencing worship as a daily encounter with God in creation, vocation, service, family, and daily prayer and meditation. As leaders, we will explore engaging ways to grow disciples consistent with biblical faith practices. We will, with a variety of liturgical and musical styles, keep Word and Sacrament at the center of our worship. Each year the Council and Staff will establish goals and initiatives to grow mature Christians. Who we are: Connecting People Connecting people for fellowship, service, prayer, meals, travel, and/or study is the basic experience for all disciples. This core practice reminds us that we need more than weekly worship attendance. In John 17:18, Jesus sends us out into the world. After each worship service, we are sent into the world to love God and neighbor. We connect with others in the following ways: Honest and authentic relationships happen when we create an atmosphere of trust and non-judgmental listening. A life-style of belonging not just to church groups but with friends/groups in the community, with the understanding that all of life s connections are holy and sacred. What we imagine: Jesus gives us the Great Commandment to love God and neighbor. In everything we do, we seek to build relationships with God and neighbor. The Council and Staff will establish annual Page4
goals on how to best connect people to groups, ministries, and places of authentic conversation and service. Who we are Practicing Generosity Generosity reflects a gracious and loving God to the world. Being that God is generous to us, we affirm that we are blessed to be a blessing to others. As followers of Jesus we practice generous giving to the Mission of St. Mary s Congregation and the larger community. We practice generosity in the following ways: We believe in giving of time, talent, and money, not only to congregational mission but to the work of the larger community We have a culture of serving on committees, ministries, mission work, and regular financial support. We have an annual stewardship drive which challenges the congregation to grow in generosity by supporting our Mission and Ministry Budget. What we imagine By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are growing into a congregation dedicated to making joyful, growing, and generous disciples. We imagine a community growing into this new and challenging time with creative goals established by the Council and Stewardship Committee. It is important that generosity and stewardship are more than an annual event but a yearlong ministry. Conclusions from the Listening Sessions Connections The personal and intimate connections between our members form the building blocks of discipleship. Small group experiences at St. Mary s are vital toward this mission, enabling us to understand and experience the love of God together. The following specific ideas have emerged from our listening sessions: A vast variety of multi-age and multi-interest activities and programs must be provided. A personal invitation to join creates vibrancy, growth, inclusiveness, and unity within our membership. Page5
Evaluation of communication strategies must be ongoing. Members must be empowered to use their abilities to initiate and facilitate activities, programs and small groups. The deeper faith building connections we create with each other have inspired us to live impactful lives of service. God has called us to serve each other and to minister beyond the doors of St. Mary s - into our homes, neighborhoods and to all of His creation. Worship Members of St Mary s had much to say about Worship. Many said they: leave worship feeling uplifted, positive, part of a family, and re-energized. Worship fills their tank so that they can live the message and have stronger relationships. felt the sermons build on real life experience with a variety of stories, music and connections to Scripture. The message can be taken out into daily life since the sermons are relatable and relevant. Many members like that: there are a variety of services; people are finding at least one that engages them. Some members have a strong preference. Kids Connection is simple enough for kids to understand with truth to engage adults. Holy Communion is weekly and open. connections are being made between FUSION and the 10:30 service, and between people during the sharing of the peace. Members are also appreciate: you can speak names aloud for prayer requests. The 24 hour prayer vigil was a positive experience. there are a variety of music groups. People like the music for the service they choose to attend. It helps to inspire their worship. In our desire to become disciples, some members want even more from Worship. They are asking for: Communion at the rail more often. Some want more silence, others want more music Wider variety of music at 10:30, including some meaningful traditional hymns in new settings, with music for members to read Interaction between all generations and with attendees from different services Page6
Continuation (and reassurance) of our strong music programs /groups (not too many in one service though) and an organist Information St. Mary s is a community that wants to feel connected and values information sharing in a variety of ways. Social media (Facebook), email and the St. Mary s website are growing methods by which our congregation has chosen to access the information that binds our congregation together in worship and connects us to each other. Many members would like to have information shared while attending worship service and during the fellowship time. Members of the congregation have expressed a desire for the church leadership (Pastors, Council & Staff) to communicate and share information with the congregation in a more frequent, timely and constructive manner. In regards to the church administration, there were many comments focused on a request for increased transparency, sharing more financial information, and better access to information from the church council and the individual committees. In addition, some members felt the Church leadership needs to be more accessible and available and that it is important for the church leadership to listen thoughtfully to the concerns of the congregation. Appendix: Page7