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Vision for Renewal & Growth
Behold I Am Doing A New ThingSeptember, 2002 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: It is with immense hopefulness that we offer this revised
edition of A Vision for Renewal and Growth. So much has been
accomplished since the first edition was published in 2000!
The Vision for Renewal and Growth has become a part of our
lives in remarkable ways. It has guided and informed the work
of the Board of Directors and the Commissions of the Massachusetts
Conference. It has and continues to find its way into the life
of our churches. We are better, stronger, and more faithful
because of it. In the area of leadership development, we are resourcing our clergy and living out creative partnerships with various church-related institutions. We are learning to be light on our feet, flexible and adaptable in how we respond to new and sometimes urgent requests from our clergy and churches. The Vision invited us to dream of new ways to explore mission and evangelism. Today we have evangelism coaches and justice coaches out in our churches, training, challenging, and encouraging us to speak and live our faith in exciting ways. We have congregations and clergy that are risking, stretching, testing new ways to live out their Christian discipleship. We have new and expanding programs and ministries with youth and young adults. We are hearing from them and learning from them about their needs, their language, their desire to be faithful and transforming Christians. We have made tremendous strides in communicating the gospel with the use of 21st century technology. Many, perhaps most of our churches are exploring and exploiting the use of e-mail, PowerPoint, Web pages, and the Internet. The use of technology has brought our Conference of churches together, lessening the geographic distances between east and west, north and south. We are still dreaming, still experimenting, still evaluating, still listening together to the calling of God. But this much is clear: the Vision continues to beckon us forward toward a more courageous, inspired, and faithful discipleship. I hope you will help us to carry the Vision even further into the life of our congregations to help us transform our churches and our world in the name of Christ. Faithfully, Nancy S. Taylor
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The Vision called upon us to enter into a time of
experimentation. And we have been experimenting in each of
the four identified
initiatives: 1) leadership development;
2) evangelism, mission and justice; 3) ministry with youth
and young adults and, 4) use of 21st technologies. I hope you
will read tabout
all that has been accomplished.