A Season of Vision Discernment

What will the new decade bring to CPC? What is God yearning for us to do? What is God calling us to become? Where is God asking us to change so that we might more fully serve God’s mission in the world?

These are big questions. They are questions we explored through various structured holy conversations from January to May, 2010. These conversations offered many opportunities for members and friends to participate. The outcome was to discover together God’s direction for our congregation’s ministry over the next 4-5 years.


Vision Pathway 2010

Introduction
The most important lesson to come out of the Vision Discernment Process is that Christ Presbyterian Church has much to celebrate. It is clear how much our parishioners care about the church and its future, and how much they care about each other. They value our varied worship opportunities, the strong commitment to local and international mission, the sense of community within the congregation, our dedication to the children of the church, our financial stability, our strong staff and much more.

CPC’s mission remains the same: We gather in love, we grow by grace, and we go forth to serve. Led by the Spirit, through Christ-centered reflection and thoughtful participation in a series of exercises, a vision for Christ Presbyterian Church has emerged. You spoke and God spoke through you. There are two parts to our vision for CPC for the next 3-5 years. First, that we continue the many strong ministries and missions already in place. Second, that we intensify or expand what we are already doing in six particular areas. 

Vision Pathway
Our congregation has good news to share. Therefore, we will establish a timely, transparent and consistent communication policy to share information and foster cooperation. We will create a responsive, multi-platform/multi-directional system that engages and facilitates communication between staff, congregation and community.

Growing strong disciples is the central work of the church. At CPC, there is a hunger to build a more personal relationship with Christ and to link our faith to our daily lives. We will pursue a variety of approaches to Christian formation that are accessible at any age, stage of faith or life, and foster community as well as individual reflection. We will strengthen our approach for middle and high school youth and expand opportunities for adults.

Christ Presbyterian Church has long been a place of safety and comfort for many people. We will continue to be a source of support, not only to those who walk through our doors, but to the community that we touch—and that touches us. We will be a beacon of light and discipleship allowing the attractiveness of Jesus to shine outward from our hearts, minds and physical location. By actively pursuing opportunities to share our talents and resources with organizations and people, we will serve Christ’s example of being a good neighbor—in the community and around the world.

Our campus is central for our mission. It serves as an accessible and welcoming place to grow in our faith, a foundation for our outreach and mission, and a resource to the community. With an eye to the future, and in keeping with our commitment to be a global partner, we will seek sustainable ways to improve our campus and its capacity to gather people, grow our ministry and serve our community.

Worship is the cornerstone of our church life. Experiencing vibrant and joyful gatherings that allow us to encounter God’s Word, express our thanks and praise, build us up in love and connect us with one another, is a core value shared by the entire congregation. We will continue to strive for excellence in all our worship opportunities, committing resources as needed to strengthen and enhance our contemporary worship service.

Communicating the story of our faith—the blessings, as well as the struggles—is an important way we participate in God’s dream to welcome, gather and unite all of creation in Christ. As a congregation, we have made significant strides to be more welcoming to others. We are still learning. We will continue to seek ways to share what God means to us with those we encounter every day.

We believe these pathways mark out the next steps of God’s vision for us as a congregation. As we have sought God’s counsel and grace to discern them, so let us seek God’s grace and strength to walk them.