As we get older, we may notice that our eyes don’t quite work as well as they used too. We may be near-sighted or far-sighted. For me, having reading glasses around the house and office is a real necessity.
In the life of the church, we also speak of Vision in a different way. Where do we see our church three, five or seven years from now? Is our current vision adequate for now and the future or do we need to re-examine our current vision and mission?
These and other questions are what the FPCC Vision Team asks each month as we gather to pray for our church and to ask God’s direction for the future ministry here at First Parish.
At our last meeting we compared Long-Term Planning versus Strategic Planning. For example, Long-Term planning deals with considering church life based on a predictable future and a continuation of current trends. Strategic planning instead notes that the future is unpredictable and current trends do not continue but change all the time. As one can imagine, this makes the idea of Long-Term planning obsolete and means Strategic planning is the way to go.
This has been easily observable based on the last two years or so of COVID. Every day, every month, is filled with changes and surprises that could not be planned for. This can make looking at the future direction of the church and setting of goals very challenging.
Lastly, the Vision Team discussed having a Saturday event in which the Team could update the church on recent discussions and receive input from the congregation as we move forward in this new year. We certainly live in exciting and changing times and coming together as a congregation would be helpful to the future of our church.
I look forward to keeping you up to date and confirm a time in the next few months when we can connect with our church family to share where we’ve been, where we are, and where we would like to go.
Please begin prayer for the Vision Team, leadership and church body as we continue to move forward to the glory of God in our endeavors to grow His church here in Wakefield.
Pastor John