"Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" John 14:1-5
Two minutes into summer vacation driving west on Interstate 70 the questions begin: When will we get there? Are we lost? Do we have enough gas? Can we stop for ice cream? Dad tried to comfort us with visions of mountains: "They're out there," he would say pointing the way ahead. "Can you see Pike's Peak?"
It was hard to see Pike's Peak from Salina. The Dairy Queen at Exit 152 was so much more … real.
It was hard for the disciples to see what was next in-between Passover and the crucifixion - even though Jesus was still with them saying: "You know the way." They needed a glimpse of where they were headed; they wanted reassurance and a Rand McNally Road Atlas. Thomas said it out loud: "Lord, if we don't know where you're going, even a GPS won't help us get there."
It helps to have a vision: a picture of God's preferred future for us. That's why Immanuel's newly formed Vision for Ministry Task Force is proposing that Immanuel engage in an intentional visioning process beginning this fall. The purpose is to spend some time together to see where we are, remember whose we are, and renew our vision of who God is calling Immanuel Lutheran Church to be.
There are three reasons for proposing a visioning process.
- It's time. Immanuel's Long Range Plan was developed in 1998. It identified eight ministry areas and goals to achieve God's vision for Immanuel. That was 12 years ago. In 2003, a review of the plan reaffirmed some of our ministry areas, and called out new areas for consideration - that was 7 years ago. Four years ago in preparation for calling a new pastor, the Council reviewed the Revised Long Range Plan. Some of the goals were out of date because of the passage of time. But many had been achieved; we had traveled together as far as those goals could take us.
- We're a different group of people. Of course we're different than we were 12 years ago. The congregation has changed. Some of our faithful members have died, and some have been led to join and serve other congregations. But even those of us who are still here have changed. All of us have grown in the past 12 years - and growth means we bring different gifts, fresh insights and newly developed skills for ministry. That's good news! It means our discipleship and education programs are working. So, even if we are the "same people," we are different people because of the passage of time.
- Renewal is what we pray for every time we worship. Through Word and Sacrament we pray: "Renew our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." That's what the visioning process is about - renewal. Rediscovering who God is calling us to be now - individually and collectively as a community of faith - and then embodying that identity in the choices we make and the actions we take.
"How does what we're doing, reflect who we are?"
"How does who we are, shape what we do?"
The vision process will help us ask and answer these questions.
- It will build on our roots - first in Christ and on our calling to be a worshipping community.
- It will build on our identity and our Lutheran tradition as we ask: "What does it mean to be the Body of Christ?"
- It will build on the legacy of those who have gone before us at Immanuel as we realize the promise God has - not just for us - but for the world through us because we are the Body of Christ in this place and time - now!
Prepare to join us on the journey of discovering God's vision for Immanuel. Watch for more information as we kick-off the visioning process this fall. Everyone is welcome; everyone carries a piece of the picture.
We're not there yet. But, "you know the way."
Members of the Vision for Ministry Task Force are: Don Arney, Sally Baehni Dorcas Doering, Mike Fee, Kevin Fewell, Jim Martin, Pastor Jennifer Thomas, Ramelle Timm, and Carolyn Wilson.
