Looking for God’s Plans in 2007
“For surely I know that plans I have for you… plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” Jeremiah 29:11
So there we were – in mid-November – our session
trying to discern. We had felt rather ‘stuck’ since earlier in the year –
as we struggled to understand and take steps toward the second part of our
mission statement: “Go ye therefore…into the larger community reaching out and
sharing God’s Good News”. But the more we tried to ‘figure this out’, the
more it seemed that we were going around in circles.
Sure, we learned a lot in the process – how each
of us come to the table with unique gifts and standpoints. How we are
called to truly listen to each other in the midst of this diversity. What
we think in our deepest hearts to be our passions for the ministry of the
church. But all this did not seem to lead us in the direction that we
were hoping – concrete steps in order to live out the ‘Go ye therefore’.
Why were we not getting anywhere?
At our final ‘visioning session’ (in early
December), after previous sessions of pondering about what mission is, what
outreach is, how we are called to minister like Jesus did (by the way, was
quite radical and we have much to learn from!), what ministry in the 21st
century might look like – we went back once again to the mission statement
itself and really thought and prayed hard about where God was leading our
church. As we broke down the ‘Go ye therefore’, we identified the three
areas that the phrase mentions: who our larger community is, what
is the Good News to them, and how will we reach out to them. We
tried to classify our findings from our previous sessions in these categories
to see what would emerge.
As our conversation continued, we realized that
the ‘whos’ and ‘whats’ that we identified: the Japanese-speaking, the seniors,
the families in need, the Summer Camp youth – were not necessarily those
outside our church circle, but rather tended to be within our existing
circle. And the four ‘whos’ were almost identical to the four areas of
ministry that was identified as ‘focus groups’ within the church in our
mission study. This was very revealing. As one session member put
it, “I think there is more we need to do to strengthen what’s inside the
church before we can really go outside.”
Although the mission statement talks about the
‘larger community’, implying the community outside our church walls, the
leadership was beginning to discern that it was maybe not the time to be doing
ministry to the ‘larger community’ in a ‘full blown’ way – just yet. Our
ministry should always have the aspect of ‘going out’, of course (!), but
unless we are really ready, unless we are truly equipped, it will not be as
effective. So, after this revelation, the session began talking more
about how to meet the needs of the people within our church community, and
equip them to go out better.
Does this sound like our church is taking steps
backwards – after all the visioning and planning we had done in the previous
months and years? I sure hope not! As our individual faith journeys
are truly journeys, the church is on a faith journey too. And as a
labyrinth winds and turns, pulls closer then suddenly pulls away from the
center – and finally reaching the center at the very end when you don’t expect
it – the session’s discernment is not a step backward. It is yet another
step forward, even when it seems like we are pulling away from our initial
‘goal’.
And I am also learning (and maybe the session,
too) that even though we are called to look ahead, prepare, make
goals/timelines in serious prayer and discernment – and even when we do just
that – there will still be times like this when our prayer and discernment will
lead to another ‘twist’ in the journey that makes it look like we are veering
from the direct path to the goal. And that’s okay – and that’s not a
failure.
“I know the plans I have for you”, says our
God. But that doesn’t mean that WE know what the plans are. We may
see glimpses and parts of it, but perhaps not all – at one time. I
believe that we are just called to be faithful – being faithful in our prayers,
discernment and response. And as we do that, the journey that God takes
us will surely have its ups and downs, winds and turns, pulling us toward the
‘goals’, and pulling us away from them. But I believe that the important
part is not necessarily getting to the ‘goal’ – but rather, knowing that it is
God’s plan, God’s path and that God is there leading us all the way. And
we are just called to be faithful – to that God and God’s promise – and nothing
else.
As we enter into 2007, I pray that all of you
will ‘join us in the journey’. Come and take part in the exciting
adventure that God has in store for us! We may not always know
where we are going, but we are in great hands – the hands of the Creator of the
‘plan’, the ‘goals’ and the journey!
New Year’s Blessings,
Grace Kaori Suzuki, pastor
