When was the last time you got lost? Maybe you set out from home, intent on arriving at some destination, but somewhere along the way you got distracted and missed a turn or took the wrong exit. Or maybe you got involved in a conversation with a traveling companion until you both realized that you were way off track and that the surroundings were no longer familiar. It happens to all of us.
Institutions can get lost as well. Sometimes I think the church is a little lost (all churches, not just us). Not lost in the sense of being lost souls, or lost causes, but rather plagued by the question “where were we going again?” In a lot of churches there is a vague sense that we talk a lot and think a lot and even pray a lot but we hesitate to move forward into action because we are not sure exactly which road to take. So we end up going in different directions with some hesitation, scattering our resources and sensing that we aren’t quite making the impact we were intended to make.
The church doesn’t sell widgets or import food products; we are not a non-profit organization that builds houses for the poor, or a counseling service, or a social club, or a performing arts center. There are a lot of ways in which the church serves God in the world, yet we are not defined by those services but rather by the intention to serve God. What that intention looks like is hard to put into words and so it is easy for churches to get distracted and lose their way.
We are at a remarkable moment in the history of the church. The next 10-15 years will see a lot of change in society as well as in our pews. This is the time to ask the question “who are we and where are we going?” This is exactly what the Session has been wrestling with and together we have proposed an answer in the form of a new St. Andrew’s Vision, Mission and Values statement. This statement is the product of serious discernment and hard work. I think we were able to rise above the confusion and articulate a clear direction that will guide us into the future. We are sharing that work this Sunday in worship and the document is included here. I look forward to our future together and believe the road we are on is not only clear but it is just as God intends it to be.
Blessings,
Pastor Jen