Introducing “Charting the Future”
Our Savior’s has changed a lot in the last several years. Changes to staff and pastor, the very different reality of the post-COVID-19 world, and emerging needs in our community are motivating us to ask some fundamental questions:
Who are we, as Our Savior’s Lutheran Church?
What is God calling us to be and do in the future?
These questions require thoughtful, prayerful, intentional conversation. A congregation that knows what it is about will be well-positioned for thinking strategically about the future. My past experience in congregational leadership tells me that there are some key ingredients that Our Savior’s should pay attention to this year:
Mission Statement — A short, easy-to-remember, Biblically grounded statement of why we exist as a congregation.
Membership Covenant — A Biblically grounded statement of expectations for how we will live together in community as a congregation.
Leadership Covenant — A Biblically grounded statement of the additional expectations that we have for all who lead in our shared ministries.
Core Values — A commitment to principles, grounded in Scripture, which especially embody who and what our congregation stands for.
Together, I like to call these items our “Congregational DNA.” Just like DNA guides the growth and development of a living creature, these ingredients will help our congregation know how to grow and develop into the future. Or, just like a ship’s map describes the waters that we find ourselves in, knowing where we are can show us how to get where God intends for us to go.
But why engage in this work? Why now? It’s clear to me and to the Congregation Council, that we need a shared vision of what our congregation is being called to do in the future. We need clear guiding principles that will help us choose between the many good things that we could do, so that we can be confident about what we should do.
So, to have these intentional conversations about our congregational DNA, the Congregation Council is inviting everyone who participates in our ministry to a series of studies and discussions that will inform the Council’s work in crafting these statements.
Our hope is that there will be broad participation across the congregation - we need many perspectives in order to do this work well. The first gathering will take the form of a Bible Study by Pastor Ted and a discussion of Jesus’ teaching about the congregation’s mission. That will be on March 22 after worship in the Fellowship Hall. You can read more about the other gatherings that are planned on the Charting the Future page.
If you have questions about this initiative, all of our Congregation Council members are eager to help. Please keep this effort in your prayers.
