What unique vision is God calling our church to? As part of the Renew initiative, a group of Our Saviour leaders including elders, staff, and other members met several times over a four-month period to ask this critical question. We analyzed the needs of our community, the strengths of our congregation, and the passions of our leadership. Through those meetings, the common themes that emerged were the strength of relationships within our church, the need to build bridges within our community and a conviction to proclaim the centrality of the Gospel to our congregation and those around us. I hope that every member of our church family will embrace this mission.
Summarizing these themes and catalyzing us for clear ministry direction, Our Saviour Evangelical Free Church has a vision for Building Community, Bringing Christ.
By Building Community, we mean: Cultivating meaningful relationships within our church family and serving the needs of our community.
By Bringing Christ, we mean: Proclaiming and demonstrating the Gospel to one another and to the lost around us.
Building Community, Bringing Christ is a catchy slogan and memorable, but it is meaningless unless we carry it out. Therefore, we will centralize our shared ministry efforts around these two purposes. It is not enough to ask, how does this build community or bring Christ, but is this the BEST way we can build and bring? Because this is a vision, not an initiative, there will not be a start date or end date. God calls us to consistently revise and refine how we may best serve those around us as we continue proclaiming the timeless hope of the Gospel.
To that end, consider the following markers of a member and church Building Community, Bringing Christ.
A member who is Building Community, Bringing Christ:
- Is willing to be known and pursues others
- Lives a reproducing, multiplying discipleship lifestyle
- Looks for ways to serve both Christians and non-Christians
A church that is Building Community, Bringing Christ together:
- Commits to the hard and holy work of loving one another biblically
- Sacrifices personal comforts and preferences to reach and bless others
- Discovers and meets the needs of our surrounding community
Your brother-in-Christ,
Pastor Adam
