Beloved. What a great thought, that we are all beloved, by God, unconditionally with no regard to the differences we each have, that love a free gift by the grace of Jesus. How does it get any better than that?
In September we had a kick-off meeting with the LEAD Consultant – Jessica Noonan, who both shared the message and provided us with a presentation. LEAD is a consulting company that was formed with the Texas/Louisiana ELCA synod. Originally, a group within the Synod created to help churches develop plans for going forward in their ministry, what we know now as LEAD outgrew the Synod itself and was formed as a Non-Profit organization to provide that consulting service outside of the original synod footprint. It is church based and Lutheran in its approach, Jessica, the Executive Director of LEAD is an ordained Deacon in the ELCA.
A proposal to utilize the services of LEAD was made and with a generous gift to support the action, approved at our Annual Meeting this past February. Since that time, a group of volunteers from the Congregation was called and over the summer, studied scripture and came together to be that interface between LEAD, the Community and the Congregation and now finally are ready to move forward with the process we are calling Strategic Planning.
After our time with Jessica, we have heard questions from the Congregation that can be best summarized as Why and What? The What is the simpler question, and I would like to discuss this first. The first phase of this work is based on listening – listening to God, what is God’s dream for us; listening to the congregation – how are we doing, what are our dreams; and listening to our neighbors, what are their needs, what do they have to teach us? This is where the most time will be spent, there are no pre-determined plans, and it will start with the congregation. Over the next months we will be listening through a number of vehicles – a congregational survey, through a number of focus groups and then through specific one on one conversation. From there we will move the discussion to the community, heading Jesus’ commission to his disciples to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, moving outside our building to areas we may not have visited before.
The second phase is to focus on what we have heard, to look for themes and needs. To truly discern what God has in mind for us. The final phase will be to create an actionable plan – not one to put on the shelf but one with specific action items, next steps and commitments. Whether or not the plan goes on the shelf will be determined by the congregation – what are we willing to do?
Which takes us to the Why, and the real question is why are we doing this now? The first thing to note is that is has nothing to do with growth, it has more with how we sustain our mission and perhaps more importantly how do we flourish, not just get by, but truly flourish as a community of God.
My family has been a member here for a little more than 30 years. When we moved to Alaska and joined Joy it was this small church made up of a bunch of 40 somethings and their families and we met in what is now our Fellowship Hall. The church continued to grow, and we made the decision to build a new sanctuary that would fit 3 – 4 times the numbers that Brause Hall could hold. We continued to grow, and we hit a peak and then life happened. Demographics changed, families relocated and were not “replaced.” Social issues took center stage with struggles related from the simple calling a female leader to the involved discussion on where we fit or did not fit as a welcoming congregation to the LGBTQA community. Membership plummeted, budget discussion was all about where we cut, how do get new members (revenue), and as recent as 2019 when we began a call process, discussions were still ongoing about sharing the church with another congregation, sharing a pastor all thoughts on managing the budget. Then Covid, perhaps a blessing in disguise and with that unconditional love we are blessed with, were able to reset who and what Joy Lutheran Church was.
We have come from the golden years of the 90’s, through challenges and strife, the veritable refiners fire to what we are today. A vibrant multigenerational welcoming (the only true welcoming church in Eagle River) congregation that is right sized for the future. So why mess with this, we are good, let’s not mess things up. Life is Good.
Perhaps, that is the reason why. We have been blessed, we are filled with love and abundance, and we need to open our hearts and minds to where God wants us to go. The time to look to the future and build on our strengths – to discover what those strengths are and to dream about what we might be able to do next. I will reiterate, this is not about growth for growths safe, it is not about increasing revenues, it is about listening to God and where he is leading us next.
Our world quite frankly is a scary and changing place – the future is not for us to know. But what we do know is that change will be upon us. Though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Now is the time to be still and listen to God. Ultimately this is the why, it is what we are challenged to do every day.
Maybe this isn’t the answer that some are looking for - a little to nebulous. But the reality is that we are good, life is good and that is the reason, we have the resources now to take the time and deliberate and celebrate on what we have accomplished, but listen, listen to other voices on where we might be needed.
Personally, I don’t know where this process will take us, but I’m willing to try. Why are stepping out on this potentially unknown path? Because we are beloved and we can.
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And the people said Amen.