John Louk

"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...

I went back to work after my open heart surgery on February 9. It was wonderful to be welcomed back so warmly. I was surprised by and grateful for the celebration of my successful surgery, my return to Salem, and my birthday! Coming back means getting up to speed on all the things happening with Salem, and we have a lot going on right now. Salem is on the move! Finances . Our Treasurer, Linda Curson, does a fantastic job, along with the entire finance team. She told me that we ended 2013 in the black with more than $7,000 over expenses. Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity in your stewardship. This year we intend to get back to paying our apportionments in full. That will be $45,000 in 2014. Our apportionments reflect our missional giving to support the general church (Bishops, general agencies, etc.) as well as ministries and missions beyond our local community. You can see exactly where our apportionment dollars are working at http://www.iaumc.org/calculator/viewyear/20...