Greetings, Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
There are many things in life that excite me, and ministry is one of those things. I get excited when I see smiling kids running around the church for Vacation Bible School. I get excited for Filipino Heritage Sunday when the church comes alive with passion and praise for our heritage. I get excited when the choir sings and the children dance. I get excited when new people visit our church, and, especially, when they tell me that we are their new church home. I get excited when we talk about ministry opportunities and new adventures that we will embark upon as a church.
I cannot tell you how excited I am for the program that we are about to begin as a church. We have been invited to take part in our conference’s Readiness 360+ program. This is a 15-month process that will help us assess who we are as a church right now, to see where our ministry potential is and to help us develop a plan to reach our potential. We will journey with 10 other churches in a cohort as we learn and grow together over this time.
The process will begin the end of August when we ask people of the congregation to take on online survey about our church. I am hoping to have at least 50-75 people take this survey (everyone is invited to take it), so that we can get as accurate picture of our ministry as we can. Once the surveys are taken we will have a 7-10 member team that will attend the six cohort trainings while our church leadership will read, study and work with a coach to develop our ministry plan.
I am excited by the overwhelming potential that this journey will have for us as we allow God to guide us, challenge us and draw us together as a church family. I am proud to serve Torrance First UMC and I am not shy to tell people how wonderful this congregation is. I ask you for your prayers, your participation and your open mind as we move into this process of discernment and discovery for our church, and for the glory of God to be shared in our community.
Blessings,
Pastor Stacy