A New Vision

"The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established." Proverbs 19:21

 The first of our Healthy Church Initiative prescriptions to be completed is our new vision statement:
connecting people
building community
transforming lives
through Jesus

 Our prayer team and others throughout the congregation have been leading us in prayer about what God is calling us to be. How does God see us? At the Day of Visioning meeting on March 9, it was unanimously approved by the 35 people participating.

 The vision statement pictures an ideal future in which we connect people, build community, and transform lives through Jesus. Therefore, decisions made by Staff, the Leadership Board, and church members should be consistently aligned with the vision. This is who we are. The vision directs the course of our church.

 It is short — only eight words — so that it is easily memorized and able to inspire us to action. We can’t fulfill it if we don’t know it.

 Our mission statement describes what actions will result from the vision. When we connect people, build community, and transform lives through Jesus, we will make disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world.

 The vision statement, however, does not explain how we’ll reach our vision. The strategy for how we accomplish the vision comes from the teams that are put together from the other prescriptions. Furthermore, the Leadership Board is responsible for the implementation of the vision and for the alignment of the ministries of the church around the vision.

 The Day of Visioning meeting included prayer, dreaming, reflecting, and hoping. While there is much for us to consider and act on, I have a couple of personal observations from our conversation.

 There are many ways to connect people, but ultimately it is about relationships. People connected to other people and to God. We also talked quite a bit about the diversity of people who are a part of Salem. We are and want to be even more multicultural.

 Building community has many different aspects, too. Of course, we are building community within the church, but we are also building community in the world around us. In fact, we are all a part of several communities: our family and friends, work, school, neighbors, city, nation, and world.

 As the gathering of Jesus followers, how are we building up all the communities in which we are a part? How are the lives of people around us being transformed? That’s what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about, renewing the world so that it once again is the good creation that God intended.

 The first place where our new vision can have a significant impact is on our building project. On Tuesday, April 1 we will gather at 7:00 pm for a special Church Conference to vote on the proposed building project, cost, and financing. This is an open meeting. That means anyone is welcome to come and participate. When it comes time to decide, only church members will be allowed to vote.

 The Building Committee has done good work and will present some options to the congregation. We will have to decide what we can accomplish with the resources we have available to us.

 As we gather to make decisions, it will be appropriate for us to reflect on our vision. Is this building project connecting people, building community, and transforming lives through Jesus?

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