Discerning our Future: Questions for our Community
11For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
People of New Journey,
During January's Annual Meeting, the Congregation Council made you aware of our lease agreement expiration and shared our intention to discern pathways forward for our congregation’s location. We shared our intention to reach out to members of our congregation for input, feedback, and wisdom. This letter is our first attempt at inviting you into the discernment of our congregation’s space and future.
Our current lease was renewed in the summer of 2021 and is set to expire on December 31, 2026. With roughly 21 months ahead of this date, the council wants to give our community space and time to discern our relationship to our current space with the hope of identifying and presenting clear options for our consideration and decision this coming fall.
Known as a “store-front” church, our space is configured within three storefronts that have been remodeled to accommodate two distinct spaces: a space for worship and a space for fellowship and ministry activities. Our storefront space has served us well in the first decade of organized ministry and has borne witness to the sharing of the Gospel, growth, mission, and community.
We are approaching a crossroad in our shared life together as it relates to our rented space. To move forward with identifying options for our physical location, the council is seeking your input, responses, and wisdom. We need your reflections and responses to the following questions:
How, in your view, does our current space serve our congregation’s mission and purpose? How is our current space failing to serve our mission and purpose?
What do you appreciate most about our space and what do you wish were different?
Does our space support a vision for growth? We might define growth in several ways: spiritual growth, numerical growth, mission, outreach, and worship growth etc.
We invite you to dwell and pray upon these questions over the next few weeks inviting God into your reflection process. You can offer your responses to these questions by filling out this form, and emailing your responses directly to Pastor Beth or Council President, Mike Wilson. If we do not hear from you via email or the linked form, we will contact you directly—by phone, in person, and/or by visiting ministry teams and groups.
God has set before us a mission to share the love and grace of Christ with all people. The next steps of our journey require us to have discerning hearts, minds, and spirits that we might faithfully respond to the Holy Spirit’s leadership. Thank you for joining us in this discernment process. We will take the next most faithful step together.
Yours in Christ,
Mike Wilson, President
Karl Flormoe, Vice President
Jo Martinson, Secretary,
Mike Bartanen, Treasurer
Ron Bigley, Member at Large
Liz Peterson, Member at Large
Reverend Elizabeth Gallen