About six weeks ago, our District President, Pr. Ken Lampe with able assistance from Pr. Jim Kirk held a consultation with our congregation as part of a revitalization effort. For the sake of better understanding what this might look like and mean for our "little flock", I thought it good to put the ideas up for all to see and comment on. The visiting "team" identified five areas of "strength", five areas of "concern" and five "prescriptions" to address each concern.
This coming Sunday, July 13, we will have the opportunity to vote their recommendations up or down. Each prescription addresses an area of concern.
The first concern, "Inward focus".
The prescription: The pastor and leaders will call Concordia to a Day of Prayer and Repentance. THe purpose of this Day of Prayer is twofold: First, the congregation needs to confess its failure to fulfill the Great Commission with regularity and for being apathetic in living it out consistently. Second, the congregation needs to pray for God to move in the hearts of the leaders to produce a vision of a changed community, where hundreds are encountering the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Day of Prayer needs to occur by September 1, 2008 and the members need to continue to pray for its leaders as a clear vision is being developed.
At the direction of the Pastor and leaders, the congregation will conduct at least three "net fishing" events in their community and begin at least two interest groups in support of the vision adopted by the congregation. As many members of the congregation as possible should be enlisted to participate in the net-fishing events. The first of these events shall occur by December 1, 2008 and the remaining two by July 1, 2009. The interest groups need to be formed by January 1, 2009.