A Big Moment in Ministry

By Pastor John Schmidt

The Session has called a Congregational Meeting for Sunday, November 19th, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. Our new building plans have been affected by the rapid rise of construction costs in recent months. As a congregation, we have some tough decisions to make. (Look inside this newsletter for some important details about the issues that we face.) After extensive prayer and seeking out the Lord's direction on this issue, and a lot of hard work on the part of the Building Committee and Trustees, the Session believes that the Lord is leading us to build, but it is crucial that Central be unified on this very important decision. Therefore, the Session has planned a series of meetings, first with all the Elders at Central and then with other church leadership, to further test and refine their discernment of this matter, before we get to the Congregational Meeting. By the time you read this, the Session will have already met with the other Elders. If you view yourself as a leader here, I want to invite you to the meeting happening this Tuesday night from 7:30 to 9:30 pm. This will be part of shaping what actually gets presented at the Congregational Meeting.

We are coming to a big moment in the congregation's life. In line with our long-term history that has always been outward-looking, we are faced again with the exciting, and yet scary, prospect of positioning ourselves to be of greater service to God. We are called to be a Church without Walls-Moving people toward Christ where we live, work, and play. This is a growth vision, but it needs to be growth the right way...a vision of turning people to Christ, and not just attracting Christians. It means that we pray and plan, teach and serve, with the expectation that there will be more people in the kingdom of Jesus Christ next year than today. And some of those people will be celebrating, worshipping, and learning together with us.

The building is only a tool for that. The bigger, and far more exciting challenge, begins right now, as we think together about how we will go into new ministry territory together. I want to invite you to take part in that process, as well. As a first step, you are invited to be part of a survey that gives us a baseline against which we will measure our opportunities. This survey (you will find more details inside) is the first step of getting an accurate picture of who we are as a congregation, and will lead to meaningful comparisons with the community that we are called to serve. Later, we will have opportunities in small groups, forums, dialogues and discussions to shape the strategies, programs and goals that will take advantage of our unique strengths as Central Presbyterian Church. It's something we will discover together.

I believe God has put Central Presbyterian Church here to have a unique place in what God is doing to move this community toward Christ. I can't wait to see what that will mean for my life and yours!