A Note From Rob ...
Week of June 21
As you know, Betsy Haskell and I just returned from Annual Conference. I want to share with you a vision Bishop Goodpaster held before us. I think it speaks to our scripture lessons this Sunday.
Bishop Larry Goodpaster challenged both clergy and laity in their respective sessions to set benchmarks for fulfilling the conference vision, “Follow Jesus, Make Disciples, Transform the World.” Using three as a reminder symbol, he is casting the vision for
- 300,000 members in WNCC United Methodist Churches, up
from the present 293,000
- 30,000 increase in average worship attendance
- 3,000 Volunteer in Mission teams going into all the world
from WNCC Congregations
- 300 remissioned churches
- 30 new faith communities
- All in 3 years (by Dec. 31, 2012)
Goodpaster said these goals could be accomplished by faithfully living out our vision. In his first Bible study from the Gospel of Matthew, he focused on the first part of the vision, “Follow Jesus.”
“It is absolutely essential that if we are going to be a church and not just another organization, it depends upon who you follow,” said Goodpaster. “We’ve chosen to follow Jesus. We have too easily equated following Jesus with church membership. If we focus too much on the institutional church we have lost the vision.” He concluded by posing two questions for consideration: What are you willing to leave behind in order to follow Jesus today? Has Jesus disrupted your life enough to make a fundamental difference in how you live?
The bishop said now is the time to stop worrying about who is sitting in your pew on Sunday morning, but rather who is not sitting in any pew on a Sunday morning. It is up to us to change in order to bring new persons to Jesus Christ.
-from the Daily Digest
I look forward to following with you.
RETURN
|