In late 2014, we provided an update on our Vital Ministry Journey process. That first installment was meant to recap briefly where we’ve been in this journey. We would like to continue to share what we heard you say that is important in our lives together. We would also like to reflect on where we want to go in the future and how we think we’ll get there.
After our VMJ small groups met (approximately six meetings), we got together for a celebration gathering to share our reflections. The findings of our small groups were nearly unanimous. As Leslie Connolly described in her July 6 sermon: We found that we are a welcoming church–a church that is friendly–that invites new people in, that smiles, that shares joys and concerns, that gives warm hugs after worship –that longs for deeper, spirit-filled relationships that come through the knowledge and intimacy borne of study and work together. We are a church that gives money and manages those resources for our own good purpose–that longs to see those resources make an impact in our larger community. And we are a church that has remarkable gifts, that is looking for a path to share those gifts for the building of Christ’s kingdom here on earth.
When we started VMJ, none of us knew that Pastor Chris was being led to a new call at Manassas. The future that we seek to shape through the VMJ looks different than we might have imagined. But whatever changes we’ve experienced in our leadership, the Board and Deacons feel strongly that we will move forward to implement the spirit and the tactics of the VMJ process.
The first step in moving beyond the VMJ small group meetings was a Board and Deacon retreat. During that Saturday meeting, Stan Dueck (Director of Transforming Practices for our denomination) met with the group to help us reflect on the major themes that emerged from the VMJ Process. Those themes are presented below.
We want more opportunities to get to know one another—better.
These opportunities could be in the form of small group Bible studies, book studies, or social events such as a night at the movies or a hike. While fellowship events are wonderful gatherings for the entire congregation, we want an environment that fosters and encourages deep-spirited friendships. Some ideas and actions that we identified are the following:
- Bring back “guess who’s coming to dinner” events.
- Form periodic small group/book group studies, including an extension of the VMJ series (there are two additional study guides available from the denomination).
- “Invite them and they will come” events such as film, theater, cookie exchanges, or a soup swap.
- Hand down the traditional events—senior members mentor junior members in traditional events.
We are a very gifted community—and we want to share those gifts more broadly internally.
There are many needs within our church to keep the church itself running, such as worship, education, the physical plant, fellowship, and congregational care. We are a remarkably talented group of congregants as well. We have not always done a great job of matching affinity and ability to opportunity, however. How do we serve the church and cultivate each other’s gifts? How do we respond to service that is more “spirit filled” than it is “gifted”? How do we respect tradition and encourage change?
We are also a congregation with diverse needs among the members. Though we have an intuition that we have skills and compassion to share with our brothers and sisters at Oakton, this kind of counseling, healing, assisting, and pastoring muscle isn’t one that we’ve deliberately cultivated at Oakton. We believe this will help to develop the deep-seeded friendships that characterize a Christian congregation. Some of the ideas and actions that came out of this theme were the following:
- Deacons might consider approaches to link individuals with needs/support together.
- Create a “please contact me” form that can put in the offering plate.
We are a blessed community, and we want to share those blessings more broadly externally.
We want to be a beacon to our community. There was a desire to recognize and celebrate the work that we do as individuals within our community and also to have an impact on our community as a church. Interestingly, there was a strong identification of Oakton COB as a suburban church and a desire to meet the spiritual and material needs characteristic of our suburban location.
We are a congregation that wishes to open itself to diverse Christian backgrounds and theological positions.
We celebrated our theological differences, as congregants across the U.S. political spectrum and our inclusion of young and old, rural, urban, and suburban in our sanctuary. However, we were not of one mind about the importance of engaging in a program to expand the racial, ethnic, and economic diversity of our congregation. We did express a commitment to having a diverse Christian use of our facility, such as by the Korean Disciple Church and the Eglisia Pentecostal congregation.
Ideas and actions under this theme included creating more opportunities for interaction, service, and worship with our tenant churches.
Summary
As we continue to engage in the process of consciously and deliberately listening to and acting on God’s call for our future, it is also important to continually ask ourselves how we will know if we are succeeding in our approach. Stan Dueck, who moderated the Board/Deacon retreat, lists three characteristics of successful churches. These characteristics don’t include the size of the congregation on a Sunday, nor the number of saved souls, nor the participation in small groups. Strong and successful congregations: 1) are curious—they listen and ask questions; 2) they are grateful; and 3) they have a sense of joy and playfulness. Let’s keep these markers in mind as we continue to move forward together in our ministry here at Oakton. Some of the things we are doing now here at Oakton COB are:
- Women’s Support Group
- No-agenda men’s breakfast
- Book studies—exploring who would like to participate
- Spontaneous events—look forward to announcements about opportunities to get together to participate in a variety of activities
- Interim ministers’ participation as we strategize together
Do any of these items strike a chord with you? Do you have a vision in any of these areas? Does your VMJ group want to organize these or other efforts related to these themes? Please contact Gretchen Zience, Rob Powell, or Leslie Connolly, the VMJ working group, with your ideas and offers of support.