Our journey of redevelopment is about moving our church more closely in alignment with God’s mission in our world and in becoming better at inviting people in to that mission. As we seek to do that, we gather information from many places - the Bible, our history, books & workshops, discussions and our experiences.
Thank you to everyone who came to share your thoughts on Sunday as we had our journey recap. Those who were there heard Cara share about the next project we are looking to engage - and in order to do it well, we need all of you to join our team of researchers.
One of the things that many of us enjoy about our church is that we are comfortable there. And yet, sometimes our comfort blinds us to the possibilities. In order to open our eyes to what is possible, we are going to ask everyone to visit a different church on Sunday, June 2.
What?! I know - that sounds crazy. Our hope in having everyone visit a different church is for all of you to help us in our research. We will send you out with a list of things to consider from how hard it was to find out when and where worship was to what you thought about the service. Then, we will gather that evening to share what we learned, worship together and have dinner.
We would like everyone to be part of the research team. It is important to us that hear from everyone because we all bring a different perspective ranging from generations and education to past participation in other denominations.
Starting this Sunday, we will have a list of area churches that you can sign up for, but if there is another church you have always wanted to see, feel free to add it to the list. If you would like to go with someone else from Risen Lord, please limit your group to three people. As you can imagine, the experience of visiting is different when you go with a large group. Many of you also have friends or family members who go to other churches in our area - we would encourage you to go to a church where you do not have ties. Again, it is a different experience to visit a church with someone who is a member than on your own.
On the evening of Sunday, June 2, we will gather in the fellowship hall to share our experiences, to worship together and to eat together. We will send more information about the dinner and reflection portion.
Remember, we would like everyone to be part of our research team - you have an important part to play in this. If you have any questions about this or Sunday’s discussion, feel free to talk to the redevelopment team.
In the abiding hope of the Risen Lord,
Pastor Lecia