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Report of the Visioning Task Force
Executive Summary
September 2009
Vision Statement
The Great Ends of the Church
The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.
Book of Order G-1.0200
WPC Mission Statement
We hear God's call to be connected to God, connected to one another, and connected to our world. Responding to God's call in Jesus Christ and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, we seek to provide, promote, and sustain these connections through, worship, giving, study, service, fellowship and outreach.
In 2008, the Session of Westminster Presbyterian Church decided to embark upon a process of visioning and strategic planning to discern God's will for the Church. The task force worked with Mike Murray, a consultant skilled in leading churches through strategic planning and embarked upon a series of "Holy Conversations" at the All Church Retreat, in a series of Sunday School classes, an all-church meeting, meetings of the session, diaconate, committees and staff, as well as several small group and individual conversations. Four distinct themes emerged:
The importance of personal relationships, feeling connected to and a part of the church and other members and the sense of community, particularly emerged, as well as the importance of service, both inside and outside the Westminster community. The task force concluded that if the church focused primarily on forming and strengthening connections and service, education and evangelism, i.e., teaching and telling, would also flourish.
These Holy Conversations, a goal unto themselves, also spurred the congregation to identify and implement several new ministries:
- Inter Faith Hospitality Network – Homeless Outreach,
- Dinner Groups,
- Theology on Tap,
- Sewing Circle,
- Caring Friends,
- Young Adult Fellowship,
- Parenting Sunday School Class,
- Synergy and crossover between various session committees.
As the task force concludes its work, we challenge the session, the diaconate and congregation to carry forward our mission identified through these Holy Conversations. Further, we recommend the officers evaluate this mission at the Officer's retreat in January 2010 and in mid-2010 to ensure we maintain our focus and ensure this mission is integrated into the life of the Church.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-21
But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. Ephesians 4:15-16
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