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MISSION
We the Church of the Nativity
are called together by God
to be and to make faithful followers
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
...Opening doors to the Lord
VISION
As we pursue our Mission, we seek to be
- safe in God’s hands:
- forgiven by Father’s grace through repentant faith in Christ crucified, expressed in baptism;
- accepted at the Son’s table
as experienced in Holy Eucharist;
- empowered, baptized & filled by the Holy Spirit,
demonstrated in being confirmed;
- confident in God’s Love as we are adopted as one of His people, identifying as the church
- shaped in God’s image:
- relational in the Trinity as we connect in a
flock, a small group or ministry teams;
- reflective in the Eternal as we engage in the
oasis of daily Bible and prayer;
- restful in God’s peace as we enter the weekly
wellspring of worship and Sabbath;
- rendering to the self-emptying God time, talent and treasure in the furnace of self-denial
- serving in God’s mission:
- compassionate as we reach out to others as a
rescue-station of God’s justice;
- curious and convinced as we study and teach God’s Truth as a
faith fitness center;
- confessional as we give and receive God’s mercy and care as a
refuge;
- content as we celebrate His Grace and Life together as a banquet hall
- All to the glory of God,
- and the building up of His Kingdom.
In order to fulfill God’s Mission for us,
and to see the fulfillment of God’s vision for us,
The Vestry, assisted by other parish leaders,
has come up with the following goals for 2010-2011.
Parishioners’ giving of time and money
will help us to accomplish these goals.
CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY
Goals for 2010-2011
- Pray that we help more people to become faithful followers of Jesus Christ through conversion, baptism, filling with the Holy Spirit, confirmation, and serving God and others. We believe that God is calling us to a deeper level of prayer, so that He might enable us and others reach to move through a process of spiritual transformation, such that we and they discover and live the wonderful life envisioned in the Nativity Way of Life.
- Encourage all members’ participation in a group where there is relational and spiritual development. We wish to help members, guests, and friends get connected in some kind of face-to-face interaction with others in which conversation turns to the sharing of joys and needs, to sharing these with God in prayer, and to reflecting on God’s Words in the Bible. We believe that this is the most strategic way for people to become faithful followers of Jesus.
- Encourage all groups to have a relational and spiritual focus. We believe that all of our existing groups, as well as new ones, can have this focus, even if it’s done in a brief way, so that everyone in our varied ministries can experience relational and spiritual development in Christ.
- Find ways to extend our Sabbath experience together. We believe that our culture offers little time to rest and reflect, so that we can grow as people and as followers of Jesus. We will offer opportunities to learn how to rest and worship more completely and regularly on the Sabbath Day. We believe that this is also a strategic way for people to grow in the life of Christ.
- Encourage all members’ involvement in some form of compassionate serving. All of our ministries are opportunities not just to serve the church, but to serve others with compassion. We believe that involvement in compassionate service is another key strategy for growth in Christ.
- Reach out to children, youth, young adults, and families. We recognize that the population of younger people in Nativity has been declining, and that we need to address this by reaching out to those who have left us, as well as those who might join us.
- Evaluate and enhance worship services and pray for increased attendance. We will explore how effective our current worship services are in their timing and format, so that we can create welcoming and accessible opportunities to meet with the living God weekly, and we will pray that He will draw more people more often to worship Him in this way
- Clarify and shape our Spiritual Life Center to make it available to parish and beyond. ‘The Refuge’, our Center for Spiritual Life, will take shape this year, providing settings for people to meet with God and with others in a way which shapes lives deeply in Christ.
- Strategy Team and Vestry pursue learnings from Simple Church concepts, producing ministry alignment and focus on our mission, vision and way of life. We believe that our ministries and programs have become scattered, and need to be pruned and more clearly focused on pursuing the Mission, Vision, and Way of Life which God seems to have given us. “Simpler” will be “better”.
- Establish a personnel committee to provide advice and accountability to rector and staff. With the complexities of hiring policies, finances, and legalities, this Committee would help ensure that we are hiring quality staff, and supporting them well, to the glory of the God who calls them here.
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