The Way Forward |
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Summary:
Johns Island Presbyterian Church Vision Statement 1. Our Beliefs[1] For almost three hundred years, Johns Island Presbyterian Church has continually and faithfully engaged in mission and ministry in the name of Jesus Christ. Our beliefs are deeply and solidly rooted in the historic, traditional faith of the larger Church. We are joined to our brothers and sisters in the whole Church of Jesus Christ, by commonly held beliefs. With the whole Church, we believe in the authority of Scripture as the Word of God revealed to humanity for our salvation. We believe that God has revealed Himself as One God in Three Persons. We believe that God is the Author of all creation, as well as the Sustainer and the Redeemer of creation. We believe that God’s good creation has become corrupted and distorted by the power of sin and evil, and that it is only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that our salvation has been given to us as a free gift of God’s grace. While we hold much in common with all branches of the Christian family, we are nonetheless Reformed and Presbyterian in our faith. This means that for three hundred years, our congregation has been, and continues to be, shaped and empowered for our mission by an understanding of our faith in Jesus Christ which emphasizes some key features. A) We believe that our salvation comes from God alone, as His gracious gift. Our salvation is not an accident we stumble into or a destiny we create. It is God’s gracious purpose for our life and it is for God’s glory. Therefore, we believe that we are called by God to this time and this place, so that we might serve Him and glorify Him, in grateful response to what He has already done for us. B) We believe that God exercises the initiative, as He establishes a relationship with us through Jesus Christ. As He brings us into relationship with Himself and with each other, God sets the terms of His relationship with us through His covenant of love: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; you shall love your neighbor as yourself” [Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27]. This means that we are a community of believers, drawn and bound together by God’s covenant of love, demonstrated in Jesus Christ. C) We believe that our congregation is created and joined together by the Spirit of Christ, in order to be a demonstration of the transforming reality and power of the kingdom of God. We are called to serve and glorify God as our grateful response for our salvation, by showing what the world looks like and might become where God is acknowledged as King; a community of love and wholeness; a ministry extending the healing, deliverance, and grace that marked the life of Jesus and his disciples. Therefore, we believe that our congregation’s mission and ministry is given form and focus by the example of Jesus Christ and His first followers, according to the Living Word of God. D) We believe that as
God’s covenant community, we have been empowered by the Spirit
to carry on the ministry of Jesus. As we go forward in mission and
ministry, we do so in the belief that God has entrusted to us gifts
of time, ability, and material resources that we are to put to good
use by
proclaiming the gospel, doing the works of Jesus, and manifesting the
reality and power of the
kingdom of God in the world. E) We believe that
God’s saving and reconciling work in the world was
accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and
that it continues today through the church. Therefore, we believe
that our mission today is the same as our mission was, three hundred
years ago, and as it will continue to be into the
future. 2. Our Mission Context Johns Island Presbyterian Church has engaged in faithful ministry to twelve generations of native Johns Islanders. This is remarkable in a day and age when our culture has become so highly mobile that each new generation may easily live and work in several different communities in the course of a lifetime. During the development of Kiawah and Seabrook, our congregation has taken the lead to welcome a new generation of neighbors, and new members into our family of faith, and so we have continued to the present day. In recent years, our highly mobile culture has “discovered” Johns Island. As a result, our community has rapidly evolved from being a rural and agricultural setting, into becoming an increasingly suburbanized one. This era of growth has been rapid, and it appears to be ongoing. Reputable demographic projections anticipate population growth of 12,000 to 16,000 new residents over the next 20 – 25 years. Our own demographic data informs us that the largest segment of the new population migrating to the Johns Island area is made up of affluent families, which are also generally above average in education, as well as income. We recognize that this segment of the population looks very much like our present congregation, but we also recognize that our local mission area is extremely diverse, in terms of ethnicity, while our congregation continues to be almost entirely Caucasian. Another lifestyle segment represented well above the U.S. average is the Young and Coming. These segments are mostly (though not exclusively) comprised of young singles and couples in the early stages of their career life. Like all churches, our congregation has expressed a strong interest in being attractive to these families. This issue is underscored by the “generation gap” that exists between our congregation and the community around us. While one quarter of the folks around us are between 45-63 of age, our congregation is made up largely of folks who are 64-81 years of age. Among the issues which are of most concern to our neighbors, Finding Spiritual Teaching, Finding A Good Church, Problems in Schools, Aging Parent Care, Teen/Child Problems and Retirement Opportunities are high priorities. Our neighbors are also likely to have a “greater-than-national-average” interest in Church ministry programming which would include: Bible Study and Prayer Groups, Spiritual Retreats, Personal or Family Counseling and Youth Social Programs. Of greatest importance, our neighbors tells us that programs related to Spiritual Development are the most significant for them. We also recognize that while our congregation is almost entirely Caucasian, college educated, and affluent, much of our neighbors in our surrounding area are different than this. Our data indicates that roughly 39% of our neighbors are some race other than Caucasian; that college graduates account for 31% of those over 25 in the area, versus 24.4% in the U.S. As much as we are committed to strengthening and focusing our ministry to those who are newcomers to our area, we also recognize that we are called to minister in the name of Jesus Christ to all of our neighbors, including those who don’t necessarily correspond to our congregation’s profile. Our family of faith is deeply concerned and socially conscious with regard to those who are less fortunate than we are. One of the issues we are learning to
better understand as a congregation has to do with our perception of
the needs in our neighborhood, compared with what our neighbors tell
us through our demographic data that their primary concerns in life
actually are. Our neighbors report that their greatest concerns have
to do with long term financial security; personal health issues,
day-to-day financial worries; neighborhood crime; teen and child
problems including issues of educational quality and discipline; and
the resultant stress of having to cope with these issues using scarce
or inadequate resources. 3. Our Vision We began this study of ourselves and our community with the recognition that Archibald Stobo, the legendary organizing pastor of our congregation, was motivated by a clear vision of service to Jesus Christ in a particular fashion. Pursuit of that vision led Archibald Stobo into places and circumstances he never could have imagined in his wildest dreams, along with people whom he might never have known, if there had been the slightest change in the pursuit of his vision. The pursuit of Stobo’s vision led him first to ministry in the jungles of Panama. When that venture failed, Stobo’s vision next led him to ministry in the wilderness of colonial America, where he joined with the people he found along the way, drawing them together into Presbyterian congregations. In all his ministry, Stobo started with faith in the redeeming and transforming power of the Spirit of Christ, which called him ever forward into unknown lands in the service of Jesus. At our very best, our vision will echo the one which led Archibald Stobo ever forward, confident that God was guiding his path into the future. Much like Stobo before us, we believe that our salvation is not an accident we stumble into or a destiny we create. Our salvation is God’s gift to us, in order that we might share His gift with our neighbors, both near and far. Just as God drew our founder into new circumstances, and into new relationships, we believe that He continues to call us ever forward in exactly the same fashion. Sometimes we are more willing to hear and respond to that calling, and sometimes we are less willing, but always God calls us and equips us to be His hands and feet and heart as we are joined together by His Spirit into one Body, the Church of Jesus Christ. When Stobo came to Johns Island, he found a population made up of diverse races, diverse educational backgrounds, and diverse economic situations. In many ways, we can say that our present situation remains the same as that which Stobo encountered, only more so. As we have mentioned above, the population we have the potential to serve in ministry is diverse, and it is growing. We know that we are a profoundly blessed and richly gifted congregation, and we know that we are being clearly called to engage in focused mission and ministry whose chief aim is to give thanks for our salvation, and in so doing, to give glory to God. At the same time, we also know that we are finite, and that our resources are also finite. While we cannot and will not turn our backs on anyone whom Jesus would claim as a brother or a sister, neither can we be all things to all people. Like Stobo before us, we are called to use our God-given gifts to best advantage, in order to glorify God. Therefore, our vision is to reclaim the vision of our founding pastor, as he dedicated his life to proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ transforming power. We propose to follow this vision as it leads us out into the world around us, in service to Jesus Christ. Our vision calls for us to be people who are joined together through Jesus Christ, first and foremost. We believe that as Christians we are called to give shape and expression to the love we share, by caring more for others than for ourselves. Since it is the Spirit of Christ who binds us together, our vision calls for us to sing the praises of Jesus Christ, more than we sing our own praises. We are not called to force ourselves on others, but to lift up the good news of faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ. Because Jesus didn’t give up on us, we never give up on one another, or on our neighbors. As we follow this vision, we believe that our congregation is being led to embrace several key areas where we find a strong connection between God’s gifts to us, and the needs of our neighbors, and the needs of our family of faith. In particular, we believe that God’s vision for Johns Island Presbyterian Church calls for us to grow and diversify our membership by attracting younger worshipers into our congregation. We believe that God would see Himself glorified by our efforts to increase missional involvement with our community. We believe that God is calling our family of faith to reclaim the vision of Archibald Stobo by training hearts and minds of people of all ages to know and love Jesus Christ, the Word of God. To bring this vision into fruition, we believe that we are called to initiate a diverse set of spiritual development and Christian education ministries to meet the worship needs of all members of the congregation. We believe that as God calls us to be His covenant community, He also empowers us by the Spirit to carry on the ministry of Jesus. A key feature of our existence as a covenant community must be the cultivation of our relationships, both inside and outside our family of faith. A central feature of our vision to glorify God calls for us to improve our internal and external communication about who we are, what we believe and how we practice our faith and how we minister to each other. Last, but perhaps most
important, we recognize that pursuing God’s vision for Johns
Island Presbyterian Church will call upon us to evaluate and to make
the best possible use of the resources that have been entrusted to
us, both as individual followers of Jesus Christ, and as the gathered
family of faith. As we have noted repeatedly, God has blessed us
richly, specifically so that we might be a blessing to others, in the
name of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we believe that we must provide the
resources, both physical and financial, to support the defined
initiatives which are detailed in the pages below. 4. Our Mission Our mission is:
What we are aiming to do, as we go about accomplishing the bulleted mission points listed above:
Johns Island Presbyterian Church Three-Year Plan INITIATIVES We will fulfill our mission by setting before ourselves specific mission initiatives. While these initiatives do not encompass our entire church’s ministry, they do focus our attention on key development arenas for the next three years. We believe that our Church must focus on these five key initiatives:
Plan/Do Strategies Our Three-Year Plan Initiatives are the basis of our annual efforts. During the first year of our plan, we will:
Appendix A contains the complete set
of three year development initiatives and first year activities
recommended by the six Revisioning focus groups. Justification for Three-Year Plan We see the first three years of the ReVision cycle as a time of redirection. Using the Percept Planning Model, the ReVision Task Force has identified five program Themes, that we believe, when implemented, would move our church toward closing the gap between “What Is” and “What ought to be?” The selection of these particular Themes is the result of a careful analysis of three data sources: the Context Report, data from the eight week Reflection Series and anecdotal data from members of the congregation and friends. We believe that we must put in place a platform upon which we can build. Our first Initiatives are directed toward that end. Congregational Diversification – This initiative encourages us to take seriously data from the Context Report and the Reflection Series. Currently, 79% of our congregation is older than 45 years of age. We find ourselves within a community in which only 38% of individuals are older than 45. Reflection Series data suggests the congregation has recognized the need to attract young singles and young families into our church. All six of the Reflection Series groups spoke to this initiative. A few examples from their meetings follow: “attract young families”, “more age-balanced congregation”, “new programs directed to youth/young adults”, and finally, one group set a goal of “1/3 of our membership should be under age 40”. Clearly, increasing the age diversity of our congregation has broad support. Community Outreach – This initiative is designed to focus our outreach ministries to meet the needs of our community. The section of the Context Report that assesses the Health and Wholeness of the community shows that a High Divergence from the Ideal exists in the following area of community Health and Wholeness: Childcare, Good Schools, Problems in schools, Teen/Child Problems, Personal Health, Healthcare, Stress and Drug and Alcohol Abuse problems. The data from the Reflection Series suggests that the congregation recognizes these problems and desires to develop outreach programs that will assist members of the community. Examples of statements from participants of the Reflection Series follow: “establish mentoring programs and free medical clinics”, “implement program targeting spiritual growth”, “local missions and outreach”, and “consider neighborhood visitation”. One group suggested “securing a coordinator for a volunteer clearinghouse”. An assessment of all existing data clearly supports an initiative to increase our outreach mission to the community. Internal and External
Communication – This initiative focuses on the need to
improve communication both within the congregation and externally to
our community. Although
the Context Report does not directly deal with this subject, it is
noteworthy that the section of the Report that summarizes
participants’ response to our church programs reveals that only
seven of the twenty programs were evaluated by more than 46% of the
participants. Anecdotal data suggests that this low percentage was
due to lack of knowledge about the programs being evaluated. Also during the Reflection Series program, a common theme among participants was concern about the internal communication process. Comments from participants follow: “improve communication”, “need a well-informed congregation”, and “assess current processes to advise members of program and activities”, to list a few. Reflection Series participants as exemplified by the following comments were also concerned about the effectiveness of our external communication: “neighbors should know about our sound scriptural values”, “advertise and market our strengths”, and “develop pamphlets about ministries/programs”, to list a few. Spiritual Development/Christian
Education – This initiative focuses on the Spiritual
Development and Christian Education ministries of our church. One of the most important Gap
Themes in the Context Report addressed the Primary Concerns of both
the Community and the Congregation. In each group, concerns,
which are likely to exceed the national average, include:
“finding a good Church” and “finding spiritual
teaching”. The data from the Context Report Gap Theme
“Church Program Preferences” also supports this
initiative. Church
Program Preferences of the community and congregation, which are
likely to exceed the national average, include: “adult
theological discussion groups”, “Bible studies”, and
“Prayer groups”. During the Reflection Series program, a
common theme among participants focused on both Spiritual Development
and indirectly on Christian Education. Comments from participants
follow: “community vibrant in faith”, “hire a full
time Music Director”, “and spiritual development/growth
across all ages/locations”. Although no direct reference was
made to Christian Education, one of the most common themes from the
group centered on the need for a new Christian Education facility.
Another strongly expressed desire was in the area of Spiritual Development.It is reasonable to conclude that the expressed desire for a new Christian Education facility, coupled with the expressed desire to attract and welcome young singles and younger families, implies the necessity for us to develop top quality Christian Education programming to be housed in such a facility. Accordingly, one option that needs consideration is the establishment of a preschool/kindergarten, to be housed in the new Christian Education facility. Such a step would address both of these desires expressed by the congregation, in addition to potentially being a powerful tool for community outreach. Clearly, our congregation and our community support ministries that provide opportunities for individuals to grow spiritually and expand their understanding of the Word of God. Resource Support- The Congregational Survey does not directly question participants about their attitudes toward either resource support or financial support of church and community ministries. The Reflection Series participants did focus on this issue. Following are direct quotes from the six focus groups: Three Year Initiatives- “architectural plans and capital campaign almost complete for the new Fellowship Hall/Education Building”, “development and implementation of a Master Plan for the use of JIPC property and buildings, including preservation of existing Sanctuary”, “needs analysis for a new building”, and “planning for a building, new Facilities”. First Year Strategies continue the same theme: “establish planning committee for the new Fellowship Hall/Educational Building”, complete a program based analysis of current needs and expected growth to determine the need for a new building”, “develop a proposal to meet those needs and assess willingness and ability to fund”, “building committee formed”, and “new facility task force (to deal with land use)”. Several members of the Task Force have observed that our congregation’s need for updated physical facilities is already pressing upon us, since our existing ministry and programming already taxes the limits of our existing classrooms and fellowship spaces. This observation is consistent with what the Task Force has heard from the members who participated in the Reflection Series. By inference from the Context Report and by direct communication from Reflection Series participants, our Congregation believes that we should develop the physical facilities and develop the financial support to enhance our existing ministries and launch a host of new ministries that will “Close the Gap” between the “What Is” and “What Ought to Be”. [1]Adapted fromThe Book of Order, G-2.0300 through G-2.0500, and from “Essential Tenets and Reformed Distinctives” written and adopted by San Diego Presbytery. |