God’s deepest desires…

Did you know there is no other word for “thesaurus” in the dictionary/thesaurus?

I looked that up while I was looking up the word “renewal.”

Last night the board approved an effort in the congregation seeking renewal of our faith, our energy and our vitality for the kingdom of God.

The specific (but general) statement that accompanied the proposal read like this:  We seek to renew the vitality, energy and spiritual depth of First Christian Church to meet the needs for fellowship, friendship and outreach to the community.

Now, that statement is sufficiently general enough to allow us flexibility and for the movement of God’s Holy Spirit among us as we determine God’s deepest desires for us as we move forward.

The words in the thesaurus which approximate renewal are: rebirth, regeneration, rejuvenation, resurgence, resurrection, revival.

A few of those words have always been linked to the faith.

A Renewal Team is being formed, including about 15 people of all ages and with unique perspectives about the needs of our community.

This team will not be like long range planning teams of the past which meet many times, do surveys and finally come forth with great proposals.

The team may more resemble a group which comes to terms with what renewal should look like from God’s perspective at FCC. Then empower people and groups to go make it happen one person and group at a time.

If a great idea emerges, we should feel empowered to act on it and have the support of the church to do so.

The ideas may not appear radical and earth shattering. We do not seek to “change everything” for the sake of change.

We sincerely hope this is a rolling effort, which will extend out into the future with built in opportunities for renewal to renew itself.

The Renewal Team may function to fan the sparks of renewal until a new effort or idea bursts into flame.

They may have ideas. They will be asked to pray and encourage others to pray.

The whole congregation will be drawn into the process and will be able to contribute spiritual seeds to nurture and grow into full blown ministry.

Please pray for this process.

We will be back to you with more information as the work of the Team progresses.

Moving to the deeper places,
Jeff