As we continue the good and honest conversation we started last week about our relationship with our neighborhood, there are five passages that we want to put out there for meditation and reflection in preparation for this upcoming Sunday: Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 10:25-37, 1 Cor 13, 2 Cor 5:11-6:2, and James 2:14-26. These passages will be incorporated into the reflection and conversation on Sunday, so we wanted to give you a head start in being able to reflect on what they tell us about how we are to relate with those around us!

Here is a brief overview of where we are at and where we are going!

We are moving forward with the idea of a parish model of church, a church that is committed to proclaiming and embodying the Gospel in Norwood, especially in the area immediately surrounding St. Elizabeth. Among other things, it means having regular worship services open to the entire community and seeking to reclaim St. E’s as a sacred, missional space during the week.

We are moving forward with the idea of covenant membership and are crafting a provisional, one year covenant for people to commit to. It will be a year of learning how we can be more intentional with God, each other and our community.

We are also moving forward with the idea of an eldership model of leadership where elders would be primarily responsible for the spiritual care of the covenant members and for leading the ministries of the church.

In the coming weeks we will discuss in detail how we will be more engaged with our neighborhood, how we will use St. E’s, how we will minister to our children, and how we will relate to our larger Vineyard family. In November, we will finalize these plans and begin the next stage of our journey on the first Sunday of Advent.

In order to get a feel for where people are at, we are asking that you fill out a brief survey about the discernment process. Your feedback will be very helpful! Follow this link to complete the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D3GZWPQ. Thanks for your help. Please continue to pray that God would guide our steps!

Tuesday at 3:30pm

Hannah has stabilized since this morning and remains in the NICU. Of primary concern is the development of her lungs. Nathan and Bethany have gotten a little sleep, and were heading back down to pray with Hannah. Bethany is set to be discharged tomorrow (Wednesday) and seemed to be in good spirits. Nathan expressed deep gratitude for everyone’s prayers and for God’s faithfulness through a very trying night. The best way to support them right now is to keep praying. Stay tuned for details on providing meals for them in the days to come.

(For those who do not know, Hannah was born at 26 weeks, weighing 1 lb, 9 oz, nine weeks after Bethany’s water broke.)

The chart of the leadership proposal from this past Sunday is linked below. It includes two options: one without paid staff and one with. We will be discussing these options this upcoming Sunday, so please take a look and let us know what you think!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l0htBR028IXVSm2tCdVCAw3SlPEZJ9Ekq-XpkuJlcyY/edit?hl=en_US