This week in our stewardship sermon series, we come to our second core value discerned by our church Session; another fundamental piece of who we are as a church and that really matters to us. We treasure: building a church culture together.
That means that everyone makes a difference to how we function and how we approach our faith, our mission, and our connection to our larger community. Even when we receive new church members (which we will on October 22nd!!), we ask the congregation to make a promise regarding new folks among us: “will you embrace their gifts, their needs and their dreams? Will you recognize that their presence and participation will change the shape of this body and help it grow in new ways?“. We always answer that “yes we will”, but that is easier said than done. When people bring different ideas about what is sacred to them and what helps make God real to them, we can feel threatened or offended. But church is not meant to be a static, unchanging institution! It is meant to be a living, changing thing that constantly evolves: Reformed and always reforming!
When each of us wholeheartedly and prayerfully engages in community together, God’s Spirit is powerfully at work! We hope that by considering this value, you will be inspired to give more of what matters to this church culture and help us build it stronger together!