Strategy, July 9

Last week, I pulled out all the old newsprint records of the work our vision team completed in 2016: our mission, values, strategy and measures. I wanted a permanent record so I took pictures and created digital files. I also remembered...those nine months were quite a journey. We were seeking clarity on behalf of our congregation with questions like, “What is our unique role in God’s kingdom work? How has God gifted our congregation to make disciples for Jesus Christ?” As we did our work, we met Joe. Joe was the name we gave to a typical guest. One of the questions we asked was, “Where does Joe go?” If we are blessed enough that Joe would give us a try, how can we clearly and concisely direct Joe to connections that matter?

Strategy for Faith UMC

We answered with our strategy: worship, faith groups and service. If Joe decides that Faith deserves a closer look, where does Joe go? Assuming Joe experienced worship with us, we wanted to offer Joe the chance to join a faith group and to serve others in Jesus' name. It’s not multiple choice (A, B or C). We want Joe to embrace D, all of the above. Having a clearly defined strategy has helped your staff so much during the pandemic. Even though worship, faith groups and service have looked different, we knew where we needed to focus.

Pastor Heather is beginning a 3-week faith group on Sunday, July 11, to review our core values. The values are what we hoped Joe would feel the first time he experienced our life together. We didn’t want to name aspirational goals. We wanted to identify truths we honestly embrace as a congregation. These are our core values: connect with love, lead with service, learn for life, come as you are. If you’d like to know more about our core values, join Pastor Heather and the Journey Sunday School Class at 10:00 am for three Sundays. They will meet in the first classroom on the left as soon as you enter the youth wing.

You’ll get more information in the service section of this week’s email, but we are seeking a coordinator for our relationship with Darnaby Elementary. This relationship began in 2015 with a simple question to Darnaby’s leadership: how can we support your mission and your work of education? Through the years, there have been several answers, depending on the time and on the circumstances. But, the relationship has remained strong and mutually beneficial. If God is tugging at you as someone who has a vision for helping this relationship advance to its next iteration, please email me or Kendra Stewart.

Celebrate with me that worship on July 4 allowed us to reach people who haven’t yet felt safe back in our sanctuary, as well as first time guests who were curious about what we were doing out at Turkey Mountain on a Sunday. I received a request from Meagan Ewton, editor for the Oklahoma United Methodist magazine called Contact, asking for pictures of our worship. She’d heard about what we were doing and thought it of interest to our Annual Conference. I’ll close today with some pictures of the day.

Faith, I’m proud of the way you seek to connect with each other and with new faces through our strategy: worship, faith groups, service. If you are looking for a faith group, join Pastor Heather this Sunday. If you are looking for a way to serve, consider helping us deepen our relationship with Darnaby Elementary. And, let’s be proud together that creativity in worship on a holiday might reach many we couldn’t have otherwise reached.

Let’s worship together again this Sunday,