“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.
 For there is still a vision for the appointed time.”

– Habakkuk 1:2, 2:2

Beloved of God,

For 21 months the re-Vision Task Force has been hard at work developing a Mission Vision and Strategic Plan that, if fully embraced, will help our congregation move forward with strength over the next five years. [You can read more specifics in the articles that follow below.]  As we move into the heart of the Fall schedule you’ll find throughout this October edition that we, as a congregation, have not been sitting on our hands waiting for the Task Force’s proposal to be completed!  On the contrary, we continue to pursue the mission to which God has been calling us over the past 80—soon to be 81—years.

We know very little about the personal story of the prophet Habakkuk, but we do know that he lived during a time in which threats from outside the nation (Babylon was at the height of its superpowers) and anxiety and injustice from within dominated the headlines.  Violence was ever present and pervasive. Shady dealings were par for the course.  The wealthiest took advantage of the poorest.  The nation was not living according to the core covenant pillars of loving God and neighbor.  Surely there are resonances to Habakkuk’s context in our own time.  In response to Habakkuk’s heartfelt plea the Lord directs Habakkuk to “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.”  The Lord assures the prophet: “There is still a vision for the appointed time.”  Friends, this is our appointed time.

The fresh articulation of our Mission Statement coming out of the Task Force’s work is this:

Called by grace through the Holy Spirit to be the Body of Christ,

we claim the power of God’s transforming love by cultivating faith,

walking hand-in-hand with neighbors,

and seeking just relationships with all people and all creation.

Note that it is GRACE mediated through the HOLY SPIRIT that grounds and animates this venture to which God has called us in baptism—to be the BODY OF CHRIST, a community of believers who CLAIM THE POWER of God’s transforming love not just for themselves but for the world God so loves, and who put that transforming power to work – CULTIVATING FAITH, WALKING HAND-IN-HAND WITH NEIGHBORS, and SEEKING JUST RELATIONSHIPS WITH ALL PEOPLE AND ALL CREATION.

Of course, ARTICULATING a mission vision is one thing; EMBODYING it is another.  Yet embodying is God’s whole venture in Jesus Christ—the WORD who became FLESH and pitched his tent among us.  God’s wide embrace in Jesus compels us to invite and welcome others to share in our life and mission, which is why we speak of the doors of our building swinging both ways—INWARD as we invite folks to join us on our mission in Christ, and OUTWARD as we go and serve the neighborhoods and community around us.

The specific language of our mission may change—as it must over time to attend to the challenges that each new decade brings.  But the core purpose remains.  Over the coming months each of us has the opportunity to discern what portion(s) of the mission plan we will help take on flesh and blood.  What elements of the renewed vision are calling to you?  How will you answer? 

With you on the Way, Pastor Erik