Where Are We Going?
Many people in the congregation continue to ask, Where is Salem going? What are we doing? For many, it feels like Salem is a ship adrift on the sea with no direction. That is a normal feeling. I want to address the questions by explaining what has been happening and how we can move forward. The work that has occurred since I arrived, besides just reacting to the flood, has been to restore the infrastructure of the congregation.
Infrastructure is generally considered to be the underlying foundation needed for an organization to operate. For example, a society needs roads, water, power grids, communications systems, schools, and hospitals in order to function. “Critical infrastructure” refers to those elements that, if damaged or destroyed, for instance by a flood, tornado, earthquake, etc., would cause serious disruption of the organization.
Salem lost critical infrastructure when the floodwaters surged last summer. We experienced “serious disruption.” Most obviously, we lost our building, our gathering space, our base of operations. At the same time the church office was destroyed and all the information contained therein. All of that would be difficult enough, but Salem also endured a pastoral change at basically the same time. Instead of the pastor who had been here for nine years, the pastor known and trusted, a new face and voice was thrust upon the congregation right in the middle of the disaster. At the very least that meant a tremendous loss of continuity. And on top of all that, there were other staff and leadership changes. It was not just a flood. It was a perfect storm, so to speak, and because of it Salem has been a ship, listing a little, adrift on the sea.
Still, we have been working to restore the infrastructure. We now have our budget, new organizational structure, and leaders in place. We still have much work to do on ministry teams and other systems, but we now have almost all the vital infrastructure in place for us to move forward. Almost. We do not have a building, a base of operations.
The Department of Defense uses the term infrastructure to refer to all buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support of military forces when they are deployed in operations (barracks, headquarters, airfields, communications, military equipment, etc.).
Likewise, the church needs buildings or other installations to support the body of Christ as we are deployed in our mission. Before we know what kind of building we need or even where it should be, we have to know our mission. Mission determines location. We have our budget, our organizational structure, our leaders; now we have to redefine our mission and determine where we locate in order to carry out that mission.
Some wish Salem would go back to our downtown building. Some wish Salem would build on the new land. Some wish Salem would merge with another congregation, and so on. We all have our own desires. But more importantly, What is our purpose, or rather, what is God’s purpose? What is our mission?
As a United Methodist congregation, our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. But what is our niche, our context? What is it that we can do fruitfully? How and where can we work with God in accomplishing this purpose?
Salem will no longer be a ship adrift on the sea with no direction. We have to know our destination port, however, in order to get the ship moving in the right direction. We have our budget, structure, and leaders. Now we are ready to redefine the mission for Salem Church and locate accordingly.
Infrastructure is generally considered to be the underlying foundation needed for an organization to operate. For example, a society needs roads, water, power grids, communications systems, schools, and hospitals in order to function. “Critical infrastructure” refers to those elements that, if damaged or destroyed, for instance by a flood, tornado, earthquake, etc., would cause serious disruption of the organization.
Salem lost critical infrastructure when the floodwaters surged last summer. We experienced “serious disruption.” Most obviously, we lost our building, our gathering space, our base of operations. At the same time the church office was destroyed and all the information contained therein. All of that would be difficult enough, but Salem also endured a pastoral change at basically the same time. Instead of the pastor who had been here for nine years, the pastor known and trusted, a new face and voice was thrust upon the congregation right in the middle of the disaster. At the very least that meant a tremendous loss of continuity. And on top of all that, there were other staff and leadership changes. It was not just a flood. It was a perfect storm, so to speak, and because of it Salem has been a ship, listing a little, adrift on the sea.
Still, we have been working to restore the infrastructure. We now have our budget, new organizational structure, and leaders in place. We still have much work to do on ministry teams and other systems, but we now have almost all the vital infrastructure in place for us to move forward. Almost. We do not have a building, a base of operations.
The Department of Defense uses the term infrastructure to refer to all buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support of military forces when they are deployed in operations (barracks, headquarters, airfields, communications, military equipment, etc.).
Likewise, the church needs buildings or other installations to support the body of Christ as we are deployed in our mission. Before we know what kind of building we need or even where it should be, we have to know our mission. Mission determines location. We have our budget, our organizational structure, our leaders; now we have to redefine our mission and determine where we locate in order to carry out that mission.
Some wish Salem would go back to our downtown building. Some wish Salem would build on the new land. Some wish Salem would merge with another congregation, and so on. We all have our own desires. But more importantly, What is our purpose, or rather, what is God’s purpose? What is our mission?
As a United Methodist congregation, our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. But what is our niche, our context? What is it that we can do fruitfully? How and where can we work with God in accomplishing this purpose?
Salem will no longer be a ship adrift on the sea with no direction. We have to know our destination port, however, in order to get the ship moving in the right direction. We have our budget, structure, and leaders. Now we are ready to redefine the mission for Salem Church and locate accordingly.
Comments
Post a Comment