My Response to Our Church Consultation

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5

 Our Healthy Church Initiative consultation occurred September 20-22. After several months of preparation and the three-day consultation, we received the report consisting of five strengths, five concerns, and five prescriptions with deadlines for implementation.

 We had two town hall style meetings the first two weeks following the consultation. These times of holy conferencing were followed by a church conference on Monday, October 14 at 7:00 pm with the district superintendent. There we voted officially as a congregation and agreed unanimously to implement the five prescriptions as a whole.

 My initial response is that I am very pleased with our consultation experience and the direction we have received as a congregation. In terms of strengths, our consultation team experienced Salem as a warm, welcoming, spiritual congregation with gifted and effective leadership and a long history of forming Christian disciples. They saw in us resilience and tenacity in the face of significant challenges, especially the flood of 2008. And they recognized that we have landed in a fantastic location within a large mission field.

 The reality is, Salem didn’t just survive the flood. While the flood experience included about two-and-a-half years of great difficulty, we are far beyond merely surviving. We are an effective and fruitful congregation filled with wonderful people who follow Jesus. Therefore, the prescriptions we received are not a reaction to something that needs fixing. Rather, they are proactive. That is, they are meant to help us intentionally cause something to happen rather than just respond to something that has gone wrong.

 Further, based on our journey over the last five years, we are ready to take the next steps and become a more powerful, fruitful influence for the kingdom of God on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids and beyond. In short, we need a clear, compelling, shared vision to focus our life together. We are clear about our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The vision is what that looks like when God’s kingdom comes and God’s will is done right here and now on earth, that is, in the mission field surrounding us.

 Certainly part of our vision is to embody and share our name Salem, meaning peace, wholeness, completeness, health, well-being, joy, beauty, justice, and salvation. That is what God wants for us and for the world. Having a clear, compelling, shared vision of what that looks like, however, will narrow it down to something specific. Perhaps we will feel led to a school where we will work to make sure all the students have the resources they need for class and at home, to make sure all students are able to read, and to make sure all students have enough food. Or maybe we will feel led to the neighborhood right behind our location, working to make sure all the people there have wholeness of life, for instance, help with marriage, money, and kids, relationships throughout the neighborhood, and a relationship with the Lord and a place in the body of Christ.

 Once we have this clear, compelling, and shared vision, then we need strategic, intentional systems to help us accomplish our mission and vision. Specifically, we need systems to make disciples and leaders, to engage the people of Salem to serve in ministry, to oversee the people of the congregation, to connect new guests in the life of the congregation, and to reach out to the people around us in the community.

 This is an exciting time and, as always, an adventure. I invite you to participate in the town hall meetings and to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us.

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