Unfiltered Thoughts
We asked Pastor Dave, from a church in Sebago, ME, for this thoughts after we had worked with his church. Here’s what he had to say.
What excited me the most was to spend time with the lay leaders of our church having an outside voice lead us in sincere conversations about what is unique about our church and our community, what we value, and what our community needs. We know God wants us to make disciples but what does that look like in Sebago?
This was not a program. It was a series of directed conversations about who God is calling us to be as a church. We were given some practical instruction of how to organize and move forward with the things God is calling us to do. We all want to be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading, but we needed some help in getting moving in a united direction.
So often when our leaders are together our conversations are mostly about putting out fires; what is our current problem to solve. We have just been so focused on the present that we have struggled to focus on the future God has for us. For me, the best part was talking about our identity and values. This set the tone for everything that came after. So often, training and materials offered to churches are geared towards more urban or larger churches and I find myself trying to figure out how to modify ideas for our context. This past year with Vision Partners began with our context and then moved forward from there. I would absolutely do it over again (bold print our emphasis). I would definitely recommend it to churches of all different sizes and contexts.
We actually came away from this with a plan of how to move forward with things God has for us to do in the upcoming year as well as a vision for where God is leading us to be in three years. This year has been energizing and inspiring for me personally. I am more excited about our future even as we face our present challenges. God has led us through this past year for a reason and He is not done with us yet.
Thank you so much for working with us!