For the past couple of months, a group of eleven people has regularly gathered to talk and discern God’s purpose for this church. This gathering is called the Transition Committee, who help me to better understand our congregation and discover where we need to intentionally grow.
Raleigh Court United Methodist Church is a great congregation. This church has been faithfully serving God and this community for the past 94 years. It established and has continued great ministries. We, however, discovered that what many long term members easily understand about the purpose of our church, might not be that clear for people newly joining our community, including people who have the potential to join us. We see the need to clearly define the purpose of our church.
As a result, the Transition Committee agreed to recommend to the congregation suggestions to try to simplify the purpose of our church that will help us to follow Christ. That is what John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was well recognized for. He had the ability to organize and make it simple for the Methodist to become a faithful follower of Christ.
The vision of the United Methodist Church is to ‘Make Disciples for the Transformation of the World.’ The committee decided to adopt a process of ‘Loving God, Loving others, for the transformation of the world,’ to reach this vision of making disciples. It is not to water down the complexity of the Gospel, but instead we are making it simple for the followers to dive in and experience the beauty and transforming power of the Gospel.
On behalf of the committee, I invite our congregation to join us in prayer as we continue to simplify this process and seek God’s clear direction for our Church. I would also like to invite you to participate in future discussions by giving the committee members feedback, and joining us in our next 5 meetings to express what you hear from God. Our meetings are held every Thursday during October, at 5pm, in the Library.
Through simplifying what we do, we hope that God will make God’s way clearer.
In Christ, Seungsoo Jun
Transition Committee Members: Brad Stephens, Emily Nester, Greg Huffman, Julie Barrette, Larry Dickenson, Sarah Stephens, Sue McCoy, Will Adkins, Keith Foley, Ray Hornig, Seungsoo Jun