Our Session is excited to announce a new strategic planning initiative that will enable us to prayerfully sharpen our vision for ministry, discover more about the mission field that God has called us to, and focus our use of the resources that God has entrusted to our care. As a church, we will be taking part in the Elemental Churches pathway, a five part program that will help us identify and remove growth barriers, empower our members for ministry, fan into flame our passion for mission, and discover how God is calling us to make a real difference in our community.
You can learn more details about this exciting program at the Elemental Group’s website: https://www.elementalgroup.org/pathway. The Presbytery of Cincinnati has obtained a grant from the Lily Foundation to pay for all churches in the presbytery to make use of this exceptional resource (the total cost of the program is $6,900, but thanks to this Lily grant, we are able to participate for free!). In addition to interviewing our Presbytery leadership about this program, our Session also interviewed the leadership of Crestview Presbyterian about their participation. They returned glowing reports about how the Elemental Pathway has helped them achieve greater focus, develop effective measurements, and grow their outreach.
We will be selecting a team of 8 to 10 people who will work through the Elemental Churches pathway. Our goal is to make this team broadly representative of young and old, male and female, first service and second service. We are asking you to prayerfully consider who you might nominate to be a part of this exciting team. We envision the process running for 6 months, featuring several group meetings, homework exercises, outside reading and videos, and fun, collaborative, game-oriented exercises. Along the way, as we complete each phase, we’ll have items that we can take action on immediately, and the team will have to take leadership in communicating and co-ordinating with the congregation, so this can be a journey we all take together.
This video from the Elemental Group’s website provides a great overview of the process and the time requirements.
Send your nominations to Brian Thompson, Mike Steur, or Pastor Smith by June 18th. We will announce the final team roster and kickoff the work in early July. We are looking forward to discerning together the exciting ministry that the Lord has in store for Madeira-Silverwood Presbyterian!