A prayer that grounds us:

The Prayer of Good Courage

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. Amen.

Questions as you read:

Does this document describe who we are as a congregation?

Is there any component of the document this is not clear? Any other questions?

Do you have any suggestions for additions or areas of focus that we did not address?  Ideas for additional examples are also welcome.

VISION (Why we exist): To be a church that is open to all, lives by faith, is known by love, and shares Jesus’ hope with the world.

MISSION (What we do): Connect – Care – Celebrate

GOALS (How we will succeed):

1.    Vocation — faith in daily life. Equip people to discover, develop, and deploy their God-given gifts for the thriving of our neighbor (especially our neighbors of color)

and the world God loves.

EXAMPLES:

• Incorporate the Prayer of Good Courage into the ethos of Peace: council, committees, choirs, households. Send a business-card size card to all members.

• Interview ministry partners (members) about their life and faith story: vocation questions, post to FB weekly.

• Vocation Small Group and Preaching series in November 2020.

2.    Faith Practices — living out our spiritual vocation through seven exercises: prayer, food, worship, sacraments, money, service, community.

EXAMPLES:

• Provide take-home resources for households related to weekly worship themes.

• One new faith practice every four months: prayer/scripture, money (generosity).

• Carry forward prayer & scripture in the morning and evening, reading a common verse(s) for a given year or season.

3.    Healthy Community — strengthening all forms of families. Working and advocating for justice, striving to eliminate inequalities that remain in our society. Building bridges within and across the ways our community is divided, whether by age, money, race, sexuality, religion, or other boundaries. Meeting basic needs and actively seeking ways to end poverty.

EXAMPLE:

• Holding space for significant events in our community/world: front sign, newsletter, prayers, small groups.

• Looking to support organizations that serve the most underserved, not furthering the inequity gap.

• Creating a document defining Peace’s strategic partnerships that reflect the core of Peace’s mission: Interfaith Outreach, Operation Bootstrap Africa, TreeHouse, Bloom. 

• Empowering ministry partners (members) to connect with their communities.

• Name a social media team that shares information about given ministries.

• Looking for new/timely needs that fall within the core mission of Peace.

4.    Invitation & Connection — equip people to invite neighbors into Peace’s ministries. Foster relationships with people throughout our church and neighborhood for the thriving of our world. Multiply those who participate as partners and leaders in our work. And honoring each person where they are in their journey. 

EXAMPLE:

• 3 weekly activities where members know how to invite people.

• 5 events in 2020/2021 where extra attention is paid to invitation.

• Hospitality team focused on being more interested than interesting. 

• Invite members to share the peace of Christ via text during the online worship services.

• Build “check-in” time into all onsite and online gatherings.

• Equipping people to invite others to Peace: YouTube videos.

• Leveraging smart communication tools to engage membership (e.g., text messaging, social media, etc.)

VALUES (Why and what motivates you):

1. All creation is loved.

• It all matters — plants, animals, rivers and lakes, soil and air.  

• We seek to be good stewards of ALL the gifts God has given us.  

• Gifts include our time, skills, and money, which we try to share, save, and spend in ways that honor God and serve our neighbors.

2. Learn, laugh & celebrate life 

• You are valued as a child of God, as you are – in the midst of all life’s complexities. 

• We have hope the world is moving toward good because of God. 

• We celebrate that we don’t know all the answers. 

• We embrace the joy and messiness of life, knowing God is there.

• We welcome a wide variety of voices and cultures.

3. Simplicity

• Clarity – understanding of vision, mission, goals, and values.

• Movement – it’s okay to try something and not be perfect, but we try again.

• Alignment – focusing on current ministry and being prepared for nimble community-needs response.

• Focus – unrelenting advancement toward the vision.

4. Radical hospitality

• We seek to be an affirming and loving community of faith for all people.

• We are called to dismantle racism by promoting a continual process of repentance, healing, and reconciliation.

• Following Christ’s example, all are welcome regardless of age, ethnicity, race, national origin, family configuration or relationship status, physical or mental ability, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression.

• Continually looking at how systemic racism has formed us, we seek to name racism and other injustices to participate and make changes.

5. Engaging worship

• We are Christ-centered, Biblical, and focus on including all voices in worship.

• We incorporate (new/all/unfamiliar/neighborhood) cultures via music and art.

• We embrace technology to empower worship.