This week visioning teams began their work discerning God’s call to our parish. To facilitate this process Jim Tracy has developed a game to help participants understand the current status of the parish and to move the parish forward as they work their way around the game board.

Early results look promising. To give the parish a sense of the conversation, here is one email exchange from one team.

The first is from Jack Dalby. The second, from Steve Ashurkoff.

I was struck by the sheer volume of programs supported by St. David's. All worthy and clearly important to many. But what seemed to be missing, at least from my perspective, was the sense of a unifying theme. How do these programs support St. David's mission? Indeed, I found myself asking, what is that mission?

It seems to me that in order for us to answer the challenges listed in our Participant's Handout (what ministries to continue, halt, expand and start), we first need to answer the question, how does St. David's define and prioritize it's mission to parishioners, Loudoun County and the world beyond? Once we form a consensus as to those priorities, it becomes easier to talk about the merits of various church programs.

Speaking for myself, I believe that a church's primary mission (in all its many forms) should be designed to support parishioners. From there you extend your resources to support those in need in your immediate community. When those needs have been well met, a church could then look to support ministries outside their immediate area of concern. As I said, these are the priorities as I see them. That being said, no clear pattern of church support as it relates to church vision is evident to me. We are kind of all over the map.

Part of the challenge is the way the game is set up. By listing all current programs and their budgets, the Handbook creates the sense that all the ministries are of equal value. No one wants to cut or cut back on the funding of someone else's mission. So a sense of permanence is created. And getting back to an earlier point: without a clear vision, it is very difficult to determine the value of many of these programs.

I take to heart what Kevin shared with us the other night. That his biggest fear was that at the end of The Game, we would present him with a "safe" list of recommendations. My belief is that if we first take the time to decide where we want to go as a church, it will be much clearer as to what paths we should take to get there.

Thanks for your time and blessings,

Jack Dalby

And now here is Steve's response.

Jack,

You are asking the right questions and it inspired me to look back at the work we did together. As I did so, it became obvious to me that there is a clear pattern to the outcomes and I believe the Lord was with us that evening.

The common denominator, or vision, is that we want St. David’s to be a place where transformation takes place. This is completely consistent with the mission of St. David’s – to know Christ and make him known. Someone who truly knows Christ and lives by his example (the most powerful form of evangelism) is by definition Transformed.

The foundation for this vision is built on formation of a community of people committed to the Lord and each other – also known as a Covenant Community. As we have learned together on Sundays and Wednesday nights, living in a Covenant Community creates the greatest opportunity for transformation to take place. This lesson comes to us from the pages of Scripture and I personally believe the Lord has shown us the way and provided a shepherd to lead us.

The spiritual nourishment for this process comes from fellowship and discipleship education at all levels. We must spend time together, fully understand the commitments we are making, and support each other on a difficult journey of discovery before the vision can become a reality.

From the perspective of the game this implies a need for places to meet, and enough human resources, paid and volunteer. It also requires “investment” in worship and mission to open the doors of transformation for us all to walk through together.

In support of this vision, the decisions we made as we went around the board focused on three major areas: youth, mission, and music. All of these are critical to achieving the vision of making St. David’s a place where transformation takes place.

Our children are at the core of the connections we make with each other. If the children in our community are not fully integrated into our vision, it will fail. Not only will the children themselves disengage, but they will take entire families with them. It is absolutely critical that we create a place where they can come to know the Lord in the fullest sense. This means not only education and fellowship with other believers, but opportunities to serve the larger community. In our first pass around the board we gave these areas high priority.

For me the two tests of a vision are what happens if the full vision is not achieved and does its full achievement matter. I would argue that the transformation of a single life would be a result worthy of celebration. Achieving the full vision has the potential to change the world. It meets the tests.

I look forward to the next round of the “Game.” It is an excellent way to see the potential we can achieve if we all put our hearts, minds, and money behind a vision for St. David’s -- whatever it may be.

May the Lord be with you,

Steve Ashurkoff