Find God’s vision, create a mission plan, tell your story,
and invite investment in your congregation.
We need to know who we are as congregations, what we believe God is calling us to do, and how we can share what we are doing with other people. The clearer we are about these things, the more people will be willing to invest their time, talents, and treasure in our ministries .
This event will encourage those who attend to participate in a visioning and storytelling process. Please share information about this event with your congregation council members, stewardship teams, visioning, outreach, or evangelism teams.
Cost: $15 includes materials, lunch, and refreshments.
RSVP by Monday, October 6.
This event is sponsored by the Stewardship and Financial Support Team of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod.
Presenters:
Pastor Bob Zimmerman, retired and serving part time as interim assoc. pastor at Hope Lutheran, Cranberry, PA. He is past chair of the Synod’s Outreach Committee, and has helped congregations reconnect with God’s mission and develop a plan for their participation in what God is up to. He has previously served St. John’s Stone in Harmony, St. Luke’s, Westview, St. John, Mars and St. John’s Perrysville.
Pastor Wayne Gillespie, pastor at Christ’s Lutheran, Murrysville PA, has been passionate about stewardship in the church for decades. He believes that people are generous and want to be a part of something that’s making a difference. Pastor Wayne has been trained as a mission interpreter and has learned that effective stories can be used to inspire people and to help people to see how they can become more involved in a congregation’s ministry. He also believes that congregations are already telling stories whether they know it or not. And so, the question becomes: “How can we use storytelling to more effectively encourage already-generous people to join hands in ministry and commit a part of their time, talents, and treasures to what God is doing in our churches?”
Schedule
9:30 AM: Welcome and Devotions
9:45 AM: Session 1
Break
11 AM: Session 2
12 PM: Lunch
12:45 PM: Session 3
1:50 PM: Closing
Session 1: Pastor Bob Zimmerman
Discovering God’s Vision for your Congregation
Listening to the stories found in Holy Scripture and to hear again or more clearly God’s mission and our identity as congregations of Jesus’ disciples.
Listen to the stories our community neighbors can share about the changing context of our congregations
Session 2: Pastor Bob Zimmerman
Living Into God’s Vision- Planning for Mission
Ways to listen to each other to bring our identity and context together in a clearly stated purpose.
Developing a Mission Plan to intentionally live into that purpose.
Session 3: Pastor Wayne Gillespie
Creating Effective Stories
Help people want to know that they are a part of something important and that what they do is changing lives.
Take advantage of the fact that we live in an Age in which "the best story wins."
Inspire faithful volunteers and donors to take action and to generously support what Jesus is doing .