The congregation took a couple of years to distill a sense of who we are and what our mission is to a few words, and in 2007 adopted the mission statement:
Belonging to God ~ Working Together ~ Helping the World
At the same time, we determined our vision:
Recognizing that each of us has different gifts, knowledge, skills, and passions to bring to God’s work and that the congregation is developing a sense of family, we hear God calling us to
- learn how individuals and small groups in the congregation are already doing God’s work and to discern how the congregation can support them in that work,
- become aware of needs in this community and the wider world, whether they be human, environmental, or spiritual, and to discern how the congregation could or should respond, and
- provide individuals, groups, and the congregation opportunities to deepen their faith and to share their faith journeys with one another.
In 2011, we decided to become intentional about how to act on our vision by creating a specific goal. We discovered that having a goal certainly strengthened our congregational life. At each annual congregational meeting, we evaluate the goal that has been set and decide whether it still needs work or if we are ready to choose a new one. Hopefully, former goals become such a part of our being that the actions coming out of the goal continue even when that goal is not our current emphasis.
Goals:
February 2019 – Present: To be aware of the power of the Holy Spirit working through us when we endeavour to seek justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God.
January 2017 – February 2019: Based on Micah 6: 8, we will endeavour to seek justice, do kindness, and walk humbly with God.
January 2016 – 2017: “Contagion” – defined as a rapid communication of an influence. It was suggested we find ways to plant the seeds of our ministry and to be the yeast that makes our ministry grow.
January 2015 – 2016: To be intentional in our discipleship.
February 2013 – 2015: Explore ways to become more visible in the community.
February 2011 – 2013: Share and celebrate the work individuals and small groups are doing within the congregation and in the community and invite them to tell the congregation what assistance is needed.