Leadership Notes

Breaking News…If you were part of Covenant Church when we were at the former St. Peter's Episcopal Church {soon to open as a gym}, you probably remember the carving of the Last Supper in the sanctuary. That carving is now on permanent loan to Covenant Church by the Tecumseh Historical Society. The story behind the carving will be shared at a later date.

Second, thanks to all who helped with our Annual Meeting/Potluck. Great food, great fellowship, great meeting. Thanks to all!

As a follow-up, here's further elaboration on the work of our Vision Team. As you've read elsewhere, one of the most important things they did was formulate mission and vision statements for Covenant Church. These came together after input from our members and friends:

The Mission of Covenant Church

To lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ by spending our time, energy, and resources sharing God's love with our community and from generation to generation.

The Vision of Covenant Church

To be a biblically faithful family of believers where Christ's redemptive grace leads

us to love each other and love our community in ways that change lives.

These state who we are and what we do. After that crucial first step, the Vision Team then looked at how God is calling us to move forward. They started with an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. {Their full report is available upon request.} Some of these are:

• Strengths: Devoted to God's Word {Bible}; Signs of God working in our midst; Music Ministry; Generous people who are willing to work; Outward focus.

• Weaknesses: Formal processes and procedures; Understanding of evangelism; How do we measure success; Follow-up of first time worshipers; Conflict resolution.

• Opportunities: Leadership Development; Identify spiritual gifts; Community goodwill; Great physical space; Time to transition to next Lead Pastor.

• Threats: Financial strains; Cultural religion; Legalism; Leadership development; Cliques/gossip.

Our Leadership Board {Session} is developing ways in which to address these areas. Remember, this is not a sprint. We will move forward thoughtfully and deliberately. As we pray about where God is leading us, we trust completely in His providence and guidance.

God is Good All the Time,

Richard