the making of a mission statement
(part four)
((community))

where the rubber meets the road.

in what is probably the most predictable but definitely the most vital part of our acrostic, we round out our mission statement with the driving idea of our new visioning process, getting out and into our community.

not our community of faith. the community outside of our walls. the community that mirrors our stubbornness. the community that's been left behind in many of the same ways we have.

churches have left huffman/roebuck/center point, splitting for the greener pastures of whiter newer neighborhoods. churches have closed. churches are still around us hanging on by threads. all that have suffered resemble our frustration. how does a congregation change along with a changing community?

pretend the community isn't really changing as much as it is? call your church "regional" and convince yourselves that you are drawing from all over the city, when, in all honestly, your members have just moved out and away to all over the city. try new worship styles? bring on black staff members?

yes. failed.
yes. failed.
yes. failed.
yes. failed.

what we have never really tried and what should have never seemed so novel was to look inward and ask ourselves if god still wanted us to be a part of huffman/roebuck/center point.

over the last three years, we have focused inward. and the answer we have discerned is an emphatic "yes."

we are on the corner of huffman and gene reed roads because we feel god calls us to be here.

so, we now and moving forward pledge to be a lighthouse of hope in our community. not to fix them. not to condescend and share "all the answers". just to care. to be a spark. a way. an idea.

we pledge to be in our community and to make a difference. come what may.

and it will be beautiful.

because it's going to happen.

and so, there it is. our proposed mission statement to be.

it has been an honor to serve on a committee with such a vital purpose to the life of the church that i care so much about. we hope to continue doing good work moving into the next phase of our existence.

we respectfully ask it not be taken lightly the effort that has been put into authoring these words, collecting the thoughts of our church, and putting them in a package that our congregation can own and make sense of as we grow.

we would love to hear your own thoughts, but your silence will resonate as support.

amen.