A New Beginning

A statement of mission. On Sunday, September 26, 2026 we as a church made a new commitment to one another. After months of working together, listening to one another, and praying about both how God is working in our lives currently and who God is calling us to be, we rolled out our new mission statement as a congregation: feed more sheep. In the last conversation that Jesus has with Peter in the Gospel of John he commanded him to go out and “feed my sheep.” Today, we are responding to that same call in our own unique way.

It is not about the church. We remember the old children’s song, “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is the people. I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together…” As we make a commitment to “feed more sheep,” we make it together, but we recognize that it will take each of us carrying it out individually to succeed. There will be projects ahead that will involve every member of this congregation, but there will also be ways that each of us is individually being challenged to feed more sheep in our own lives. Both are important.

What does “feed” mean? On a very basic level, we are making a commitment to meet particular hungers in the world in tangible ways. This may literally mean providing food for people, but we also recognize that the deep hungers of the world extend beyond food. As such, as a congregation we are committing to use our greatest resources to meet the greatest needs in our community and world. It will mean that each of us will need to prayerfully consider what gifts we have been provided that might help to feed some hunger in the world. It might also mean naming the gifts we see in one another. In short, “to feed” might sometimes mean sharing a meal, or providing clothing, or healing a wound, but it will always mean looking for ways to reach out to meet the needs of the world in love.

What does “more” mean? To make a commitment to feed more sheep, means that we should be careful never to become complacent as a church with the same faces around our table. Yes, we want to see the same people week after week, but we need to remind ourselves that there are enough spaces at our table for everyone. It doesn’t mean that we will judge our success by the numbers in the pews, but rather we will actively work to make sure that our circle is never closed.

What does “sheep” mean? Anyone who as actually spent time around sheep knows that they are not really the sweet and lovable animals that Little Bo Peep makes them out to be. They are rough and dirty and often have bad attitudes. For us, this is a reminder that we are not called to only serve those people with whom we get along, who think like us, or who will keep us comfortable. No! We are a church who believes that everyone is a child of God and that everyone deserves to know that. And so, we commit to feed more sheep with the recognition that we might not always be comfortable, but that we will never exclude someone from our fellowship, whether they be young or old, male or female, republican or democrat, gay or straight, tall or short. By “sheep” we mean everyone.

The statement has been made, now it is time for action! As one theologian put it, “the difference between belief and conviction is action.” We have made this new commitment as a congregation and have taken the time to set before ourselves a mission to “feed more sheep,” now is the exciting time when we begin to do it. Will we be perfect? No. Do we have to be? No. We just have to do our best to use the resources we have been provided in one another to respond to God’s call in our lives. The good news is that in God, every day is a day of new beginnings.

Grace and Peace,

Stephen