Clear Vision Emerges
When snow moves through our region, TV weather maps often show us the “visibility” in various locations (2 miles in Philadelphia, a half mile in Atlantic City, etc.). Limited vision is a danger for drivers. In thick fog, near-zero visibility can bring traffic to a standstill – which is exactly what happens to a church without vision. In the words of Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (KJV), or in Eugene Peterson’s translation: “If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves” (The Message).

Vision – the ability to “see what God is doing” in our midst – is essential for a thriving congregation. If we aren’t focused on who or what God wants us to become, we can move in a hundred different directions and end up right where we started. A clear vision empowers us to know when we’re getting closer, and to make appropriate course corrections when we’re not.

This week, our Session adopted the Mission and Vision Statements recommended by the Noah Team. They aren’t radically different from the statements we’ve been using in recent years, but they’re expressed in simpler, clearer language:
 

Our Mission is to love God and love our neighbor.
Our Vision is to be a Christian Community that worships together,
serves together, and grows together in faith.

These two, clear statements give us a metric for reviewing everything we do as a congregation by asking two questions:
 

• Is it consistent with our Mission?
• Will it help us fulfill our Vision?

To keep our Mission and Vision “in focus,” you’ll see them printed in our Sunday bulletins and other publications, starting next Sunday, March 8.

Keeping the Faith
A group of parents and other church members came to our Session meeting last week to express their support for our youth program. With John Chaffee’s impending departure on March 29 (Palm Sunday), there were concerns about how his responsibilities would be carried out in the coming months. I’m pleased to report that the Session responded quickly by authorizing recruitment of an interim Youth Director to begin as soon as possible. A job description has already been written and a committee is being organized to identify and interview candidates.

These are exciting times in the life of our congregation. We promise to keep you informed and to continue listening to your needs.

Faithfully,

LENTEN OFFERING TO BENEFIT PASTOR GEORGE
Change War Offering!
 

The MPC Sunday School Children are collecting a special Lenten Offering for Pastor George's Boys in Ooty, India.  Over the next few weeks children will be participating in a Change War Offering - collecting as many coins as possible with a goal of $200 dollars. If you would like to add your coins to the Change War Offering, please visit the children's wing and look for the class collection jars!  Please keep Pastor George and his family in your prayers along with our MPC India Mission Team as they travel to India the next two weeks.

COMPASSION CORPS SPRING GALA