Epworth Planning Day is scheduled for March 19 beginning at 9:30 am and ending at approximately at 3pm.
The church will provide lunch and we will also offer childcare for our parents with small children. A sign up sheet is located in the narthex. This is our dreaming and visioning day for the coming year.
Plan to attend and help map the future of our church.
The Finance Committee will meet at 12:30pm during the Epworth Planning Day.
The church will provide lunch and we will also offer childcare for our parents with small children. A sign up sheet is located in the narthex. This is our dreaming and visioning day for the coming year.
Plan to attend and help map the future of our church.
The Finance Committee will meet at 12:30pm during the Epworth Planning Day.

April, 2015
What’s our M.A.P. (Ministry Action Plan) for the future?
Twenty-one of us met at Cedar Lakes in mid-March to assess where we’ve come from and to engage in study, prayer, and discernment to think about what next steps we can take to fulfill our mission of making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We looked at five years’ worth of past plans, saw what we’ve done, and talked about where God is leading us now. It was a great day!
Short term goals that were identified include the creation of some communication tools: “needs” lists for the food pantry and for funding of special projects, a list of upcoming Special Sundays with offerings, a take-away list or packet for visitors, a periodic update /insert for our church directory with new members and changes of address, and a “miss you”/inactive list generated in small groups and Sunday School classes, so cards can be sent out to those we haven’t seen in a while. We want to strengthen our web presence as a way of reaching out to younger people, too.
For worship, we want to be more intentional about everyone welcoming visitors among us. We’d like more handshakes and some hymn sings, and a regular challenge to members to invite others. We also hope that our kids can sing more, and bring our puppets back to the front of the sanctuary at least every few weeks. In terms of spiritual growth and Christian Education, we need a “substitute teacher” list for our SS department, short-term fill ins for times when our teachers are on vacation or sick, and we’d like to start a mentoring program where long-time members share their wisdom with new Christians. We intend that all our volunteers with youth and children have on-going training in child protection standards, so we can continue to offer a safe and friendly environment for kids.
It will take a little bit longer to do some of the items on our plan: we want to look at more small group ministries, targeted for young parents, for example, and for those who are dealing with grief and loss. We’d like to start a men’s group and engage in more hands-on mission projects with our youth. We also hope to move forward in our exploring of how more audio-visual equipment would enhance our worship, especially for young people. We want to recruit people with skills in using these kinds of equipment, too. We want to give a face-lift to some of the areas of our church, with a bit of paint and some new pictures. We also hope to create some in-house devotional books, maybe using “favorite Bible verses” as a starting point.
So many possibilities! And some of you who weren’t with us at Cedar Lakes have other ideas and needs, too. Please be willing to share your vision, hopes, and dreams for Epworth in the small groups where you meet, and with the Pastor and staff. As the Bible says, “ so then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:10, NRSV) We are the Epworth family, and we have Kingdom work to do!
What’s our M.A.P. (Ministry Action Plan) for the future?
Twenty-one of us met at Cedar Lakes in mid-March to assess where we’ve come from and to engage in study, prayer, and discernment to think about what next steps we can take to fulfill our mission of making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We looked at five years’ worth of past plans, saw what we’ve done, and talked about where God is leading us now. It was a great day!
Short term goals that were identified include the creation of some communication tools: “needs” lists for the food pantry and for funding of special projects, a list of upcoming Special Sundays with offerings, a take-away list or packet for visitors, a periodic update /insert for our church directory with new members and changes of address, and a “miss you”/inactive list generated in small groups and Sunday School classes, so cards can be sent out to those we haven’t seen in a while. We want to strengthen our web presence as a way of reaching out to younger people, too.
For worship, we want to be more intentional about everyone welcoming visitors among us. We’d like more handshakes and some hymn sings, and a regular challenge to members to invite others. We also hope that our kids can sing more, and bring our puppets back to the front of the sanctuary at least every few weeks. In terms of spiritual growth and Christian Education, we need a “substitute teacher” list for our SS department, short-term fill ins for times when our teachers are on vacation or sick, and we’d like to start a mentoring program where long-time members share their wisdom with new Christians. We intend that all our volunteers with youth and children have on-going training in child protection standards, so we can continue to offer a safe and friendly environment for kids.
It will take a little bit longer to do some of the items on our plan: we want to look at more small group ministries, targeted for young parents, for example, and for those who are dealing with grief and loss. We’d like to start a men’s group and engage in more hands-on mission projects with our youth. We also hope to move forward in our exploring of how more audio-visual equipment would enhance our worship, especially for young people. We want to recruit people with skills in using these kinds of equipment, too. We want to give a face-lift to some of the areas of our church, with a bit of paint and some new pictures. We also hope to create some in-house devotional books, maybe using “favorite Bible verses” as a starting point.
So many possibilities! And some of you who weren’t with us at Cedar Lakes have other ideas and needs, too. Please be willing to share your vision, hopes, and dreams for Epworth in the small groups where you meet, and with the Pastor and staff. As the Bible says, “ so then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:10, NRSV) We are the Epworth family, and we have Kingdom work to do!