May 15, 2012

People of Hope Lutheran,

Where there is no vision, the people perish! (Proverbs 28:19) Our God is not a static God; He is actively pulling and pushing us into the future He has in mind for us. Our responsibility is to engage the vision questions, “What is God up to among us?” and “What will our response be?”

The leadership of Hope Lutheran has been seeking the answer to what God is up to here and has responded with two significant decisions:

1. The search for an additional pastor to serve at Hope Lutheran has begun. This pastor’s primary responsibilities would be focused on Post-Confirmation through College age youth, working in conjunction with our entire youth team. Our commitment to reach out to young people, inviting them to follow Jesus, is a responsibility that God has blessed us with. We want to honor what God is up to in this way at our church. This pastor would also share in the many other pastoral duties here at Hope Lutheran.
2. A Vision Task Force has been formed at the direction of the Church Council to study the growth challenges Hope Lutheran is experiencing.  At the South Campus we currently bus 120 children to Oak Grove to attend Wednesday evening HopeKids Children’s Ministry. The Vision Task Force will study options for the future and make recommendations to the Church Council on a plan to meet our need for space. At the North Campus, we regularly face a parking crunch and are looking at land that is for sale to the south of the church where Randy’s restaurant used to be. This land could serve the North Campus as additional parking.

Progress on the search for a pastor and the work of the vision task force will be reported to you as we move forward, as both require congregational support and approval.

Please pray for the leadership of your church as we wrestle to know what God is up to among us!

See you in church,

Pastor Chuck