In November 2022 the Grace community came together on a Saturday morning to begin the work of crafting a mission statement for the church. Who are we? Where have we been? What mountaintops have we visited? What valleys have we passed through? Where are we now? Who and where do we want to be?
The Discernment Team took all of the input from that meeting and drafted a mission statement that the Session then approved in December 2022:
Connecting with people through Christ to serve the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of the community and the world around us.
So far, so good. On January 8, 2023, Pastor Robin presented this mission statement to the congregation in worship and invited the Grace community to identify some specific things that we can do to fulfill that mission in the coming year.
On Saturday, February 11, 2023, we did just that. We spent three hours setting goals and creating a list of activities, some inward looking and some outward looking, that we would be willing to take part in to do the work of the ministry:
- Form a caregivers support group for those dealing with mental illness
- Plan and carry out a Gospel Sunday similar to our spring Gospel Music Celebrations
- Organize a mission trip to Peru
- Launch a book club that will meet in people’s homes
- Support the ministry of Friends of Grace to address food insecurity and other concerns in the Montclair area
- Participate with other Montclair community organizations
- Align with the needs of nature (for example, participate in an area cleanup)
- Take hikes in nature
Watch the Friday email messages from the church office for further updates on these initiatives and information on how you can participate.