No Place Like Nome for Mission

Our Savior's Lutheran in Nome has a mission. Of course, all congregations have a mission, but Our Savior's has done a targeted focus on their specific mission during 2014. I've had the privilege of walking with them on this journey. Here's how it worked.

In February, I flew into Nome and met with congregational council members, elders and others who wished to attend. We spent time dwelling in the book of Acts, talked about the community of Nome and then spent time in small groups brainstorming these questions:

* Why in God's name does Our Savior's exist?
* What is God calling Our Savior's to do for Christ's sake?

Key words and themes began to emerge. This is what came from our 3-hour session:


 
 

Over the next several months, the statement was publicized and congregational leaders took feedback and made one small tweak (adding "for all" at the end). Now the statement can be found in worship bulletins and newsletters from Our Savior's The congregation is beginning to own it. It was time for the next steps.

Once a congregation has a mission statement that accurately reflects them (statements should be evaluated and changed if needed every 3-5 years), they were ready for mission planning. These are the action steps, the missional experiments that congregations pledge to work on for a 12-24 month period.

Mission planning goals (I really like the term "experiments") do not have to be big-big goals. They should be manageable and help the congregation live out its mission statement. For Our Savior's, we continued the mission planning process when I visited in mid-November. The same team of leaders (for the most part) met with me over lunch and an afternoon of conversation and planning.

The Mission Planning Team

This time, we looked at Acts 11:1-18, when Peter has to go back to the church in Jerusalem and explain why exactly he ate with the Gentiles - oh, and they accepted Jesus and were baptized. God was doing a new thing but it took some getting used to.

After our Bible work, we spent some time doing a SWOT analysis for the congregation (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). Participants were engaged and honest about their gifts as well as the challenges of doing ministry in this unique place. As we moved into mission planning, we identified several key areas for specific mission goals (youth, church building, building community) and then listed 8 possible goals. The participants decided to take those 8 back to the wider congregation to focus on 2-3 for 2015. After the goals are narrowed down, a small group will work to make those goals SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely). There will be a bulletin board with updates on mission goals, once selected, as well as regular updates in the newsletter.


Visiting with Agnes after worship
 

Our Savior's has the energy and vision to weave mission planning into the life of their congregation. The process has built community and helped them learn from each other. I'm excited to see where God continues to call them.

Before I left Nome, I had the opportunity to join the people of Our Savior's in worship and proclaim the Good News. It was a difficult Sunday, as there had been several recent deaths on the Seward Peninsula. Many families in worship were actively grieving. It was good to be together.

I also had a chance to visit with elders, and go for a run in balmy weather (35 degrees in November).Thank you to Our Savior's for the opportunity to walk with you in mission.



It's always a blessing to visit with Pr Karen

As synod director for evangelical mission, helping congregations with their mission statements and mission planning goals is part of my job. Bishop Shelley and I encourage each congregation to have a mission plan/goals that are revisited regularly. These goals keep us focused on the fact that while we cannot do everything, we are called to do a few things, and we can do them well. I am ready and available to meet with leaders from your congregation for mission planning. Please contact me via the synod office or email alaskadem@gmail.com

God's work, Our (New) Logo

 

This blog is my blog, but it's also your blog, since it's about the mission work of the Alaska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Though it's been awhile since I've written, the new logo, see above, for the mission work of our synod is a great way to re-start the conversation, and the blogging. (Synod = geographical region of our wider church. Ours is the whole state of Alaska).

In case you didn't know, there is a group of folks working on the synod level on issues around mission, outreach and congregational renewal. It's called the Alaska Synod Mission Table, and it has other "legs" that work on things like stewardship, grants, telling the story of the church at work and more. Come to think of it, it's more like a mission octopus but the image of table resonates stronger with our work as people of Christ.

A table is a place to eat, of course, and it's where we receive the Lord's Supper and promise of God's presence always. But think of other tables you know, like kitchen tables, which are places where people talk about their lives, dream, plan and hope. As an aside, a recent article in the Atlantic talks about the benefits of table-time as a family, which has more benefits than you might think.

Most ELCA congregations I've been to make a big deal about welcoming all to the table. We feel the same way about the Alaska Synod Mission Table. We want to know more about your questions about mission, your hopes for the church, your questions about how to engage with those outside the church and your insights into where God is calling us.

In the future, you'll see more frequent (God willing and the creek don't rise) blog posts about resources for mission, outreach and stewardship. But you'll also see conversations with other partners. Members of the Alaska Synod are invited and welcome to share ideas on this blog -- guest authors welcome!