Post date: Mar 14, 2013 4:16:24 PM
We as a congregation are discerning our values and priorities. We continue to strive to better understand and live out who we believe God calls us to be as the particular people of God who call Bethel Lutheran Church home. At the end of February a group of 22 of us gathered for directed discussion about our purpose as a congregation. This was an outstanding beginning to better understand and articulate who we are. At this gathering, we identified three primary purposes for us as a congregation. While these functions are not finalized, they are a beginning point. We identified that Bethel Lutheran Church strive to:
Share the Good News of Jesus
Be a Gathering Place for the Faithful
Demonstrate God’s love; no strings attached
Everything that we do as a congregation can flow from these three purposes. I look forward to seeing how these purposes help us move forward as a faith community. Already, at this same gathering, four areas of focus were chosen in which to see how these priorities might be lived out. These four areas are vision/mission (continuing to fine tune the three purposes listed above), reaching out to the community, reaching in to those connected to Bethel, and Bethel’s finances. Each of these four topics are being discussed by members of this congregation and you are invited into the discussion.
Gregg and Sue Davis are facilitating the Vision/Mission conversation. Carol Bremmer is facilitating the reaching out to the community group, which is meeting on Thursday, March 14 at 6:30 PM at the Prinzi’s home. Gregg Guichard is facilitating the reaching in to those connected to Bethel group, which is meeting on Sunday, March 10 following the 10:30 worship service. Linda Johnson is facilitating the group looking at our congregation’s finances, which met last Sunday after worship. Which of these groups do you wish to commit to being a part of? Please contact the facilitator to join in the conversation.
I believe we all want the good news of Jesus to be shared in this place and around the world. We also desire Bethel to be a central gathering place for the faithful. And we strive to demonstrate God’s love without strings or pre-requirements. In order to live these things out, we need you. In order to discern how best to do these things, we need you. Bethel is all of our congregation, and it can best be who we desire it to be when we all partner together. Even more importantly than being what we desire it to be, Bethel can more fully live into God’s purpose for our congregation when we as a congregation invest ourselves in living out our purpose together.
This newsletter article is intended to inform you and invite you more fully into the conversation about our values and priorities. I believe we are off to a great start. The conversation is just beginning. Please join in. We are better together.
Pastor Adam