Springfield United Methodist Church

July 2008 Update

“Know Jesus, Share His Love, Grow His Church.” 

V       Knowing Jesus through worship, prayer and study. 

V       Sharing His love through mission, service, and witness. 

V       Growing His Church through discipleship, fellowship, and devotion to God.

 

Since introduction of the new SUMC Mission and Vision statement in March 2008, the Bridgebuilder Action Planning Committee has conducted congregational listening sessions (April 2008), reviewed congregational feedback from the listening sessions and the hopes and dreams initiative (May and June 2008), and has initiated activities in support of the new Mission and Vision.  There has been intentional effort by the BAPC to put aside their personal attachments to ministries/activities and engage in honest and prayerful discernment of where God is calling this congregation to focus in the next season of church life.  Several key themes were identified from the congregational feedback and hopes and dreams initiative.  The themes are: Unity Within the Body of Christ; Faith Development; Quality Youth Program and Sunday School; Welcoming ministries; Healing and Wholeness Ministries; Community Involvement and Outreach; Variety in Worship Styles and Worship Opportunities. These key themes surfaced multiple times from throughout the congregation.  Broadly speaking, these key themes run across the mission categories (e.g., Know Jesus, Share His Love, Grow His Church).

Key Theme:  Unity in the Body of Christ.  This theme was expressed in various ways—love and acceptance for who we are as individuals; unconditional love offered to all; unity in the Holy Spirit.  The one true gift the church can offer to those both outside and inside the walls of SUMC is love and forgiveness.  Realizing that in its fullest form requires intentionality by all of us.  It is easy to offer love and acceptance to those we love and know.  It is a much harder thing to offer it to those we see, but don’t know, and even harder to offer it to those we have yet to meet.  The committee believes that it is essential that we find ways to encourage fellowship across the Body of Christ at SUMC, to develop Christian community and fellowship, and seek Christian conferencing (in our Methodist tradition) as a means of resolving our differences and living in community together.  In our experience of living in Christian community, we can learn to suspend judgment of each other and find new ways to offer Christ’s love, acceptance, and community to others.

Key Theme:  Faith Development.   This theme was expressed in various ways as well and involves faith development based on knowledge and intellect (knowing about the Scriptures, church tradition, sacraments, and beliefs) and spiritual formation (experiencing Christ in Word, sacrament, mission, and service).  Each person’s spiritual journey is different and Christ meets us where we are.  We can know a lot about Jesus Christ but our new mission is to know Jesus Christ.  As such, the committee believes it is essential to examine the faith development activities and ministries of the church for all age groups to assure that we offer spiritual growth programs based on both the knowledge and experiential perspective.  Several specific ideas surfaced from the congregational feedback, including exploring ways to develop and experience passionate worship; broadening participation in the healing and wholeness services from within the congregation and inviting others in the community to participate these services;  developing opportunities for church-wide mission and service projects; and strengthening the youth programs of the church.

Key Theme:  Quality Youth Program and Sunday School.  This theme was both a subset of the theme on faith development and a stand-alone theme.  Throughout the listening sessions, there was an expressed desire to strengthen the youth group, support vacation bible study, and find ways to involve youth and young adults in worship opportunities that speak more directly to them.  Actions are already underway on strengthening the vacation bible school approach used at SUMC and strengthening the youth programs.  An initial parent/youth meeting was held on June 1, 2008 and additional meetings are planned for later in the summer.  The committee believes it is of vital importance that we listen to our youth and young adults, that we seek to understand their concerns, and that we find ways to assure that SUMC is the place where our children, youth, and young adults can find and develop authentic, meaningful relationships with others.

Key Theme:  Welcoming and Engagement.  This theme focuses on invitation, welcome, introduction, and engagement ministries within SUMC.  Included within this theme are issues of the use of technology to reach an internet-savvy generation, letting people know that SUMC is here, what we are about, and how to connect with us, pictorial directories, integrating visitors and new members into the life of the community, outreach to culturally diverse community around us, and creating an excitement about sharing Christ with others.  The committee believes that, while there are “low-hanging branches of fruit” here (e.g., revamping the web-site, increasing use of e-mail and computer technology), the longer term effort will be to change the church culture of invitation, welcome, and engagement in the life of the church. 

Key Theme:  Healing and Wholeness Ministries.  This theme focuses on building upon the unique gifts and graces already in place within this congregation—the prayer chains, prayer quilt ministries, Stephen Ministry, communion lay visitation, lay visitor outreach, and healing and wholeness services.  These ministries are healthy and should continue to evolve in response to the church’s ability to share Christ’s love with those facing physical, emotional, or spiritual illness or challenge.  The committee believes that it is essential to continue to nurture these ministries, to find new ways to bring these ministries to others outside our church walls, and to extend the invitation to attend and participate in our healing services through other churches within our community and Methodist connection.

Key Theme:  Community Involvement and Outreach.  This theme focuses on service, participation, and presence within the greater Springfield community.  This spring, SUMC participated in Springfield Days and plans are underway to participate in the fall Bridge Walk.  The Sandwich Ministry continues to be a vital part of our church’s ministry and witness to the community.  The SUMC Concert Series has the potential for growing into an outreach ministry, not only for our congregation and the immediate community, but the larger Christian community around us.  The committee believes that it is vital we continue these ministries and that we look for other ways in which SUMC can be a presence for Christ within the community.  It is also recommended that we begin to explore needs in the surrounding community and determine what other churches are doing to meet these needs.  It is possible that such exploration will yield opportunities for us to be in mission as part of the larger Body of Christ and more effectively use our resources.

Key Theme:  Varied Worship Styles and Worship Opportunities.  This theme addresses a broad range of issues related to worship styles, worship music, service days and times, and worship experiences.  Given the broad range of interest and the diverse expressions of worship preferences, the committee agreed that it is essential that we give permission for all congregants to explore different forms of worship, to understand how we conduct Christian worship is less important than our attitude in presenting ourselves to God in worship.  Church Council approved the committee’s recommendation to establish two study groups. One group will explore alternative worship styles and needs and will make recommendations on how best to address congregational interest and need in this area.  Another group will explore alternative Sunday worship service times.  This group will specifically be asked to benchmark with other churches and determine what choices those churches made to serve congregational needs. 

The committee has identified several activities, which will be initiated in the coming months to bring life to the new mission and vision statement.  These activities will help broaden our fellowship and community life together, and will provide opportunities to bring generations together. 

V       Hold a monthly Prayer, Praise and Pot Luck.  This would involve youth, parents, and other congregants in a time of informal fellowship and introduction to some types of contemporary worship music. 

V       Hold youth-planned and led worship services.  Involve youth and young adults in worship as much and as often as possible. 

V       Have occasional one-service Sundays (so all people from both services can worship together).  Schedule a luncheon following these services for fellowship.

V       Support the church-wide stewardship bible study program to be launched September 29 through November 2, 2008 (Consecration Sunday).  Encourage small-group discussions about our stewardship of gifts and graces, as well as resources.

V       Encourage the development of small groups for bible study, prayer, devotion, and spiritual formation (covenant discipleship and Emmaus reunion groups).  Such groups may be formed on an ad hoc basis, exist for a season to meet the spiritual needs of participants, and then intentionally grow and multiply by splitting up to form new and different groups.     

V       Enhanced the Vacation Bible School (VBS) Beach Party by making Sunday, June 29, 2008 a casual Sunday with a beach party theme for the luncheon celebrating the successful conclusion of VBS.