As you know, we recently adopted a mission statement for the church:
We strive to be a welcoming congregation,
inspiring lives of loving kindness and integrity
by nurturing spirituality, building community, and advancing justice
Last year, the Policy Board began to address the question how the church should “advance justice”, specifically looking at the role of Social Activism in the Church. Certainly our individual members are engaged in numerous activities that promote justice, but there is no one issue that is focused on by the church as a whole. After many, many discussions, the board determined we should seek input from the congregation to determine if we should be focusing on specific social action issues, and, if so, what issue or issues we should be focused on.
By focusing on a particular social action issue, our hope is we can make a bigger impact working together and making a stronger impact. Much like our focus on themes within our worship services, by focusing on specific social action issues, we can take more time to look at an issue in depth. Our hope is that such a focus will allow us to learn about the problems associated with it, discover what resources and opportunities are currently available in our broader community, and what we can contribute as a church to helping them.
Certainly finding an issue our membership can agree on will take great effort. Our hope is to not divide us, but find the bonds that makes us stronger.
In the coming weeks and months, we will be conducting focus groups, listening circles, and direct contact from our taskforce looking into this issue.
Kim offered further details in her sermon on Sunday October 9th, 2022
We are beginning the process of reaching out to congregants to get your input on the idea of congregational social action, and what that might look like, as we explore what we mean by "advancing social justice" in our mission statement. There are 2 ways you can participate, and we encourage you to take part in both.
The first is a series of facilitated listening circles which will be held on
Sunday November 13th 11:30am
Sunday December 11th 11:30am
Sunday January 15th 11:30am
The second is an individual conversation with one of us. We are hoping to talk to as many of you as possible, and will be reaching out by phone to schedule a time.
