THE FAITHFUL INNOVATIONS JOURNEY: DEEPENING OUR CONNECTION WITH GOD,
EACH OTHER AND OUR NEIGHBORS
Imagine that there was a way that you could feel more alive in your faith. Imagine that you could better understand God’s presence in the world, and in your life, and in the lives of your friends and family members. Maybe you could even see God’s presence in the lives of people in the whole community around you.
Many people are trying to make meaning of their lives these days. And fewer and fewer people are looking to the Church as a place where they can find that meaning. A recent study showed that only 20% of Americans find meaning in spirituality and faith.
What if we could increase that number? What if we could get people to see God alive and at work, giving purpose and meaning to their lives out in the world every day? What if there were some simple practices we could do to listen for people’s hopes and dreams, to listen for what God is up to in the world, and then trying some new things out to help people to connect their passions and dreams with what God might want us to do and be in the world?
This past year, your pastors have been working with Luther Seminary, your synod staff, and six different churches from our synod to listen and experiment so that we can better understand God’s calling for us. We have now formed a team of people from our congregation who will join us in this work: Steve Hoppe, John Hotek, Jen Hovland, Lynn Johnson, and Dan Kleven. They will help us more deeply listen to God’s story in the Bible, listen to the spiritual stories of our own members, listen to the needs of our community around, and try and get a sense of how God might be calling us to do church today.
We don’t know where all of this will lead us. We do know, however, that God is faithful and that God will be a part of this process with us. As we do this work, we believe that we will better hear God’s voice in our lives and community. And maybe, just maybe, at the end of it all we will be more connected with God, with each other, and with our community. We hope you enjoy this journey with us.
Where might God show up in your life if you were looking?