Vision & Mission Announcement

Dear Advent Community,

While I gave a brief update at the 10am hour on Sunday, October 21, I wanted to make sure everyone knew the Council's next steps regarding the church's facility needs and long-term options.

As we said during the presentations and information sessions in September, any choice we make together must be rooted in our vision and mission. To amplify and strengthen this focus, the Council has prayerfully convened a Vision Team. This team will review the strategic work done to date, and engage the whole congregation in an inclusive process of visioning, listening, and synthesizing to develop an updated vision and mission that unites our congregation under a common purpose guiding us in future planning and decisions. I'm pleased to inform you that Jon Dohlin (Council Representative), Dorothy Trigg (Congregation Representative), and Kevin Bowen (Staff Representative) have agreed to co-chair this committee and we are currently finalizing the other team members. The team will begin meeting shortly.

Once they begin their work, the Vision Team will share more information about our timeline and process, which will include a myriad of opportunities to engage. Please save the date for the first big opportunity to engage at our Vision and Mission Retreat on Saturday, January 12th from 10am-2pm. There we will gather as a church to share our past, understand our present, and seek God’s guidance for our future. Please make every effort to attend.

The Vision Team will progress steadily forward and develop a timeline to be shared with the congregation at every step along the way. Informed by the work of the Vision Team, we will then establish two committees focusing on Spatial Planning and Financial Planning as we explore long-term solutions that will help support and advance Advent's Mission and Vision.

Thanks again for everyone's commitment to our church, especially as we work together toward realizing the exciting future God has in store for Advent.

- David Richards, Advent Council President