Vision 2035
By now you have probably heard or read a bit about our efforts during 2025 to refine and articulate our vision for Christ Church as we look to the future. I use the words refine and articulate to emphasize the fact that we are not interested in unearthing a brand new vision, built on radically different values, but rather building on who we are in Christ, setting parameters for the next 3, 6, 10 years that will allow us to be Biblically faithful and strategically useful.
Over the last 10 or so years we have talked about our values through this lens:
Enlivened by the Gospel …
We will Enjoy God with Worship (Upward)
We will Embrace God’s Family with Welcome (Inward)
We will Engage God’s World with Winsomeness (Outward)
Beginning in 2015, and continuing through the capital campaign begun in 2018, we put flesh to those values in the following way: (all language taken from our capital campaign literature)
As a church community of 400-700 Christ Church will continue its vertical pursuit of God through excellence in public worship, study, fellowship, etc… seeking to find ways to make space for those currently on the fringes or outside of our community in our lives, in our groups, and in our building. Even as we actively extend the welcome to those who might otherwise not find their way into our fellowship through intentional outreach. Church planting. College Ministry, etc…
By God’s grace in the last 10 years we have seen our commitment to the Gospel deepen, our facilities have expanded to help us meet a growing community, our church plant, Gracehill, has been particularized and is connecting with people we would not have, and Campus Outreach is flourishing here at Calvin University and in Kalamazoo at WMU. Praise be to the Lord who both set us on a path and allowed those dreams to come to fruition!
- And now we look ahead again. How are we going about this?
Calling on the church to pray for God’s guidance during this year that he might show us His way forward. - Vision team is talking with members and regular attenders to get a sense of what is on their minds and hearts as we look forward. What opportunities are out there that we should be considering? What are some of the strengths of this church? What are some things we could be doing better? What threats are there to our community if we don’t address them?
- We will then use this feedback to identify areas that we should be considering, allowing our ministry leadership team, and our officers to put the finishing touches on shaping our priorities going forward.
- Finally, we would hope to share the fruits of this collaborative effort with the congregation at our meeting in December.
While we may not fully know the direction that the Lord may be precisely leading us, we do know that we will remain committed to preaching and living the Good News, with hearts open before the Lord.