There’s a well-known line: “Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” That insight fits the church well, because vision isn’t just a slogan, a strategic plan, or set of new ideas. It’s learning to see—together—what God is already doing among us, what God is stirring within us, and what God may be inviting us into next.
In the church, that “seeing” is never only a human achievement. We don’t conjure vision out of thin air or manufacture a future on our own. This is God’s mission and God’s vision. Our work is to pay attention, to listen for the Spirit’s nudging, and to respond faithfully. When the church speaks about mission and vision, we are talking about discernment: prayerfully asking, “Lord, where are you leading us?” and then practicing the courage to follow.
With that in mind, Church Council met February 6–7 for a visioning retreat to begin the work of crafting a renewed mission and vision statement that can carry First Lutheran into the future. We were grateful to be guided by two facilitators from the New England Synod: Betty Balderston and Kim Bergstrand. They led us through a thoughtful process that was both structured and spacious—room for honest reflection, and room for joy.
During the retreat, Council engaged a set of questions designed to help us look backward, look around, and look ahead: Where has God led us? Where is God still leading us? Where might God be calling us next? We talked about strengths and challenges, values and roots, calling and opportunities, and the kinds of adaptive shifts that might help us live more fully into God’s purposes. These are not abstract questions; they are deeply practical—and deeply spiritual. They invite us to name what gives life, what needs healing, and what kind of church God is shaping us to be for this community today.
Since then, we’ve been widening the circle. Over these weeks we are sharing one set of visioning questions in worship and in the bulletin, inviting the congregation into the same prayerful reflection. If you’ve already taken a question sheet home, thank you—your attention and your thoughtful responses matter. If you haven’t jumped in yet, there is still plenty of time. This is not a race, and no one is being graded.
A mission and vision statement should never feel like something “handed down” from a small group. If it is going to guide us faithfully, it needs to reflect the prayer, wisdom, and lived experience of the whole congregation. We need a wide range of voices. Long-time members and newer members. Youth and elders. Those who are deeply involved and those who are quietly faithful in the background. Those who feel hopeful and those who feel hesitant. God has gathered us as one body, and the Spirit speaks through the whole body.
So please consider this an open invitation: as the weekly questions continue, take them home if you’re able. Sit with them for a few minutes over coffee. Talk them over with a spouse, a friend, or a neighbor from church. Jot down a sentence or two—words, stories, examples, or even a question you’re still holding. Some people will write a page; others will offer a few phrases. All of it is helpful.
After all the weekly questions have been shared, we will gather for a congregational forum to listen for themes and shared wisdom. From there, Council—drawing on what we heard at the retreat and what we are hearing from the congregation—will begin shaping draft mission and vision statements. Those drafts will be shared with the congregation so we can receive them, refine them if needed, and ultimately claim them together.
It’s important to say clearly what this work is—and what it is not.
This is not change for change’s sake. It is not a nervous attempt to chase trends or become something we’re not. If anything, good visioning helps us become more ourselves—more rooted in Christ, more anchored in what matters most, and more focused in how we use our energy. Mission and vision statements function like a compass. They don’t answer every question, and they won’t dictate every decision. But they can help us ask, in every season: “Is this aligned with who God is calling us to be? Is this a faithful use of what God has entrusted to us?”
And this process can be genuinely joyful. Non-anxious. Hopeful. Because the outcome does not depend on our cleverness. The future of the church does not rest on perfect wording. The church belongs to Jesus Christ. Our call is to listen, to trust, and to take the next faithful step.
So I invite you into this work—not as an obligation, but as an opportunity. Bring your stories. Bring your hopes. Bring your honest observations. And above all, bring them as prayer: “Lord, show us what you want us to see.”
This is God’s mission. This is God’s vision. And by grace, we get to seek it together.
With hope for what God is doing among us,
Pastor Mark
