Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church
1948 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126
San Jose, CA 95126
Many congregations are in the middle of personal discernment — calling it a “town hall meeting,” or “negotiated presence,” or “a time of reconciliation.” Holy Redeemer is no different. We too need a time of analysis and planning for the future. The leadership team began the process a couple of months ago, with a discussion of the engagement in current ministries and the cancellation of several activities during the second half of the year. Now we want to open the process to give every member of the congregation an opportunity to have input.
Some people have noticed (although not nearly as many as was hoped) that many activities have been cut back over the past several months. Generally people have noticed when their favorite activity has been cancelled, but have not noticed that anyone else’s has also been missing. During this interim time a discernment process had been taking place concerning how we communicate about ministry (both from facilitators to the congregation and vice versa), what an acceptable level of participation is in various ministries, what is to be expected of facilitators, and what the ministry of Holy Redeemer should look like during the coming year.
During July and the beginning of August there will be several meetings between the Business Leadership Team, the Visioning Leadership Team and Pastor John to discuss the discernment results. These discussions will be shared with every member of the congregation, so that you are aware of what needs to be done in order to continue particular ministry activities.
On the afternoon of August 21 between 3:00pm and 6:00pm all members of the congregation are invited to come and share their ministry desires for 2011. We will do this in 4 increments, each of which will be 45 minutes in length.
Do you want fellowship, book studies, movies of any sort, adult education, Christmas present ministry, Spaghetti dinners for People who are Homeless and/or Hungry? This is your chance to let the leadership know. This is your opportunity to have your voice be heard. If you don’t speak, no one can listen, and your favorite ministry might just be cancelled because you didn’t say you wanted it to continue.
This planning is a logical step within our DNA. Over the past several years more and more vibrant task forces have become worn-out programs (that are only still being done because no one wants to put an end to them). If we believe in task force, small group and personal ministry, then we should not be afraid to look at what we are doing, analyze the good and the bad of what is taking place, and make changes that might be deemed necessary.
The leadership of the congregation thinks this will breath new life into what we are doing and is excited about the possibilities. Hopefully you will be, as well.
 |  |  |  |