A little more than five years ago, just after I came to Central, we formed a vision team, with the express purpose of formulating a ten-year future plan upon which we could formulate specific strategies. The work of the vision team culminated in a vision banquet where the future plan was presented to the church. We are now halfway through that ten-year plan and it is time for us to go back and look at the work we did, as well as discern what new things God is up to in our congregation.
The Church Council and the deacons voted earlier this year to form a new vision team based on material presented by the CBFm called Dawnings. The concept of Dawnings, published on their website is this: “Dawn — that miraculous morning moment when darkness gives way to light.
Some sleep through it. Some work through it. Others choose to wait in the quiet hints and colorful hues of morning to experience it. There is nothing we can do to make dawn happen. At best, we can be present, orient ourselves toward the horizon and wait with our eyes wide open.” And that is what the “Dawnings Team” will be doing: setting our eyes on the horizon to discern God’s call upon our church.
The team will meet for 10 weeks beginning this next Tuesday at 6 PM. It is our hope to complete our work of discernment by August 1, and then to complete an action plan based on the work of the Dawnings team by September 1. You may ask what your role is in this process. I would ask 3 things.
First pray for this team, that God’s will and call would present itself to us, and that we would have open eyes and ears.
Second, offer suggestions to the team of what you sense God is calling Central to. We are waiting on a couple of people to answer about their involvement, but currently, these are the people who have agreed to serve on the team: Sonny, Linda, BJ, Phillip, Kimberly Rand, Dot Moore, Michele Carlson, and Mary Sheffield.
Finally, when they present their findings, be actively involved in the process of voting on what they discern, as well as helping Central to accomplish what we sense God is calling us to do.
I hope that worship for you today is blessed, and that you have a sense of God’s Spirit working in you this morning. Blessings, Sonny