At our congregational gathering on April 24th, we continued to focus on our present identity as we learnt about and reflected on community demographics, as well as the preferences, tendencies, attributes and values of St. John’s United Church.
We see ourselves as a church that does (acts) more than a church that waits; and one whose members are involved in the community rather than isolated from it. Most people first become involved in our church through Sunday morning worship; instead of telling newcomers specifically how we would like them to be involved we are open to accepting the particular gifts and interests they bring. Sometimes we are a bit nostalgic about the past; we’re getting better about letting it go and being in the present.
We value the following attributes:
- welcoming, respecting and celebrating people of all ages, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
- encouragement of questions
- openness to change / transformation
- respect for personal freedom and choice
- engaging both emotion and intellect
On May 29th we are planning another congregational gathering, starting with worship, followed by a simple pot-luck lunch and a workshop. Now that we’re clearer about who we are as a faith community we’ll think about our larger community at different levels: local, national and planetary. We’ll begin to envision our role as a church in the world beyond ourselves; one more step towards clarifying our purpose at this time and in this place.