The next few Blog posts are going to be commenting on a survey that was put out to our congregation. These will be more to help us start thinking about our future and not in response to the survey itself. Some of these questions were taken from our presbytery’s visioning process.
- How are things today for our congregation? What trends have we seen (positive and negative) in congregational life in recent years?
It is important for us to all to start off by taking an honest look at where we are right now. We cannot forget that there are good elements in our church culture, practice, and heart. Too often we do not see the good things that we do everyday right now. On the flip side, there are some areas that are growth areas. We cannot assume that what worked in the past will connect with people today. Priorities are different today than they were, ten, twenty, or thirty years prior to day. While the world has changed churches have not changed as much. Yes the Gospel that we preach is eternal and it is as important today as it was 1000 years ago, but how people hear the Gospel has changed. How we live out our faith has changed, as has how we address sin.
It is also important for us to look around and be aware of what we see, in the church, in our lives, and in our community. We are already in a time of transition in a number of ministries. When we start to look at the trends we need to also look at our commitment levels to continue ministries but also to look outside the church for the needs of the community. We need to have this conversation, what are your thoughts?