We on the Visioning Team hope everyone realizes what a time of opportunity this is for our church. We are at a crossroads in the church’s life, looking down different paths, each with in its own direction and its own ups and downs. The biggest challenge facing the church is deciding which path to choose. For some, this choice can seem as daunting as David’s facing Goliath. The great thing about the church, however, is that we are facing this Goliath decision of which direction the church should follow not as individuals, nor even as a group, but with the strength of God's Spirit, who enabled David to overcome. As your Visioning Team, we want to share not only our hope but also our heartfelt faith that God has wonderful plans for our congregation.

The Visioning Team was asked to begin the process of deciding which path we as a church will take together, and we can finally see on the horizon the end of our part of this work. Our committee will be finishing our data gathering by sending a questionnaire to each member of the church. This questionnaire will be mailed in the early part of May, and we hope that each member can return it either with the pre-stamped envelope or directly to the office. We ask that all responses be returned by Sunday, May 18, and we will combine all of the responses by the end of May. If you misplace your questionnaire there will be some available in the church office.

Our next step after combining our data will be to begin writing a mission study document that reflects the church. We hope to have a draft of this document towards the end of June. At the point that our committee finishes its work, we will pass the document to the Session for consideration and, after their affirmation, will have copies available.

Remember: This is an opportunity for every member to be a part of another important period of the church. Each questionnaire that comes back to the Visioning Team helps to strengthen the mission study document and to prepare the church for the future.

Jarrod Judge
visioning@salemfirstpres.org

The Visioning Team is: Heidi Wold and Jarrod Judge, co-chairs, Cynthia Currin, Noble Deckard, Jennifer Hylton, Heidi Keller, Jane Lamb, Bill Mainwaring, and John Mistkawi.

http://www.salemfirstpres.org/msgs/pp080504pf.htm

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