Since August of 2021, St. David’s has been engaged in a discernment process which combines elements of traditional strategic planning with elements of group discernment and church leadership.
Naming our need for discernment
Most of us have an abiding awareness that St. David’s is important to God’s work in our area. Most of us also sense that the way we have answered God’s call in the past may not be the same as the way we will need to be faithful to God’s call in the future, or even the present. As Jesus said, when we’re trained for the kingdom of heaven, the treasures we bring forward are both old and new (Matt. 13:52). In recent years, St. David’s has lacked a shared sense of purpose hindering our ability to grow and partner with God to make a difference in our community. We are invited to discern what God’s dream is for St. David’s now and to discover the ideal combination of treasured patterns and new ideas to bear the fruit of God’s work in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
Discovering the possibilities
Four small-groups of parish staff and leaders have convened to contemplate which areas of continual improvement are most critical in our lives in the near future. Broadly, these faithful people are focused on how we care for that which has been entrusted to us, how we create capacity and agility to pursue our mission, how we might hone the craft of love within our church, and how we might shine a brighter light in the community around us. My thanks to Gary Dunsmore, Garner Crowder, Tom Ader, and Lia Bertelson for facilitating these groups.
Engaging our parish family
Over the next several months, this discernment process will move from asking questions about God’s dream for us to the question: “What shall we do?” As we begin to seek answers to the question about what we might do, we’ll reach out to you with surveys, town hall meetings, workshops, and various other ways of helping us discern the answers. Thank you in advance for your engagement and for bringing the fullness of your spiritual maturity into this process.
If you have any questions about the process or its outcomes, please let me know.
Grace and Peace,
Remington+