Good afternoon Westminster,

Happy Monday to you! Wasn’t Sunday’s worship service powerful? From Peter’s prelude all the way through John’s sermon – I just keep thinking about how blessed we all are to worship together and journey our faith with one another. It was the first time I’ve heard the story of Ananias and how he graciously did what the Lord called him to do.  I love the work of behind-the -scenes people like Ananias and the amazing work they do. Westminster is blessed with tons of people like Ananias.  On any given day you can catch people here working on projects like the Reafsnyder Memorial Library; or weeding the gardens; or participating in community relief efforts like FISH, VMC, and our upcoming Habitat build; or making flower arrangements from Sunday’s arrangement to take to shut ins; being a Mentor; being a Stephen Minister, teaching a class; or …. the list goes on and on. We are truly blessed. John’s sharing of how the Lord is working in people’s lives so that they can be an “Ananias” in our lives or how He works in our lives so that we can be that type of brother/sister to others truly speaks to me. What each of us do on a daily basis – whether we are 2 or a 102 – really does matter to the people around us and for this, I say “thank you”!  Just last night a beautiful two year old spoke to me… We had the wonderful opportunity of having Amy, Eric, and Nina Theiss for dinner and Nina wanted to say the blessing. I have chill bumps remembering how excited she was – jumping at the chance to thank God for our food. While I listened, I found myself hanging on to every word that she lifted up in prayer. It is amazing to think about how wonderful this world would be if we all became as willing to answer God’s call like Ananias or jump at the chance to lift up prayers like precious two year old Nina!!!

Hope you have a very beautiful week!

Hugs,

Renee

Week at a glance here:

Wednesday: Blessed Earth video in the McKinnon Room starts at 7:30 p.m. and last about one hour

Thursday: Men’s Thursday Fellowship at 7:00 a.m.

On Wednesday, April 21st, the eve of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Blessed Earth will host a live, one-night-only simulcast event entitled “Hope for Creation,” to highlight the issue of faith-based environmental stewardship. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. and lasts for one hour.

Thousands of churches and religious leaders of various denominations will participate in this electronic gathering which will include live musical performances and an exclu­sive preview of the forthcoming Blessed Earth video series “Hope for Creation,” which explores the biblical vision for care of the planet.

“This is not a political issue. It has nothing to do with national boundaries or church denominations. When we’re not using resources responsibly or being good stewards of the resources God has given us, we’re harming our neighbors and we’re not showing love and respect for God the Creator,” says Nancy Sleeth, Blessed Earth’s co-founder.

Churches all across the United States are participating, as well as congregations in South America, Africa, Europe and Asia.  In Tennessee, dozens of congregations (as well as a number of colleges and universities) have signed up to participate. Westminster is registered and will stream this event in the McKinnon Room this coming Wednesday at 7:30.  Please plan to attend this pivotal event with us!

Additional information can be found at www.blessedearth.org.

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Where Faith and Life Connect

New Blessings to Come:
Visioning Task Force Report to the Session

Honoring the past and embracing the future,
I am grateful for my life’s experiences and
I accept new blessings to come. [1]

Westminster’s recently adopted mission statement says,

We seek to follow Christ in an open, inclusive community of faith where God’s transforming love for all creation is celebrated through worship, discipleship, and service.

Westminster’s new mission statement tells us why we are here.  The purpose of this Vision Report is to show where we want to go or, more importantly, where is God calling us to go? Implementation of these statements is outside the scope of our charge. However, we plan to make ourselves available to session, ministry leaders, and the congregation as we grapple with the sometimes tough issues and decisions about how we live our life together.

We hope that this vision will be beneficial to leadership and lay ministries as a means to assess what we are doing now and to ascertain what we need to do continually to create a community that is grounded in God’s purpose.

*****

Our Vision for Westminster

We envision Westminster as a spiritually vibrant church that inspires each member. Its staff and lay leaders will guide our congregation as a whole, and our members as individuals, into a deeper encounter with God as revealed by Jesus Christ.

Westminster will integrate the spiritual, mental, physical, and relational dimensions of life so that all work together with a sense of consonance that brings wholeness and holiness to life; in other words, a place where faith and life connect… in worship, discipleship and service.

In Worship

We envision encountering God in worship in ways that are life changing. By the grace of God, preaching will be inspirational, relevant, and accessible; participation of the laity, both adult and youth, will be enhanced; music will build upon its foundation of excellence with a broad variety of styles and cultural traditions, breathing spirit and vitality into a worship experience alive with God’s presence.  To further experience the sacred, Westminster will create opportunities to celebrate special cross-cultural and inter-faith services.

Our joyful worship at Westminster will glorify God as we marvel at the mystery of God’s presence, and as we reach out to welcome a broad and diverse community, essential to the future of our church.

In Discipleship

We envision Westminster Presbyterian Church as a place where the call to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ is heard, shaped and nurtured.  We understand our development as disciples to involve growing in our understanding of the Christian faith and of the world around us, growing in our relationship with God, and growing in our relationships with one another.

Growing as disciples of Christ will mean deepening our spiritual formation as we discern the will of God in our daily practice of the Christian life. The congregation will have opportunities to be involved in faith development experiences, whether it is through classes, small groups, or mentors teaching others. Our teaching ministry’s purpose will be to lead people to a close relationship with God, not just to gain knowledge about God.

With worship that nourishes, and a teaching ministry that strengthens, shapes and forms, Westminster will be a community that is grounded in God’s purpose.

In Service

We envision, by God’s grace, Westminster’s ministry to grow more outward in focus, while continuing our strong history of nurturing and supporting the needs of people in our congregation. We will connect faith and life by the kinds of ministries and concerns which we support as a congregation, and individually by the kind of impact we have in the daily living of our lives in service to others, just as Christ served.

We see this unfolding through a process of discernment, where congregation members identify their God-given gifts. Then, having been equipped with the needed resources and empowered with purpose, congregation members inspired for service will be engaged in ministry in our church, community and the world.

Our commitment to community and world service needs will be reinforced by our financial support, and will be demonstrated in the way we allocate our financial resources to outreach organizations and for other meaningful issues or causes.

Growing into the Vision and Mission

We hope this Visioning Task Force Report will serve as a guide for shaping the future and direction at Westminster as we continually seek to be disciples of Christ and discover what God is calling us to do and be.  We anticipate that much of what we describe in this Report will unfold gradually and organically as we grow into the Vision and Mission.  As we listen to and follow God’s call, Westminster will continue to become a place where faith and life connect, in worship, discipleship and service.

Visioning Task Force

Jean Bonnyman

Tim Crais

Terry Crow

Kristi Gorden

Judy Jorden

Tim Ryan

Chris Van Beke

Rev. Dr. Buran Phillips, ex officio

Rev. John Linton Muntz, ex officio

[1] Daily Word, 12/29/09