The wondrous and inspiring story of the feeding of the five thousand, as described by Matthew, is majestically illustrated in the mesmerizing fresco that adorns the Colhoun Room at St. Paul’s. On that day, Jesus insisted that the people not be turned away but that they be fed. And so they were, despite the fact that there appeared to be only limited resources – nothing but five loaves and two fish. And together, lives were transformed – those doing the feeding and those being fed!
We are all blessed to call St. Paul’s home and to have this wonderful place and medium to be fed and to feed others - literally, intellectually and spiritually. And together, our lives and the lives of others are transformed daily. But are we doing enough for our parish community - for Winston-Salem - for the world at-large? What more can we do together to make a lasting difference in the lives of our parishioners and in the lives of others? How can we be more intentional in the way we provide, nourish and grow our existing ministries? What else are we being called to do?
On Sunday, December 4, 2011, the Long-Range Vision Committee of St. Paul’s was commissioned to help lead a conversation among the people of St. Paul’s to help answer some of these questions. The members of the committee are Bill Ball, David Broughton (Chair), Linda DuBose, Tom McDowell, Chip Morgan, Mike Piscetelli, Sue Wall and Julie Williams. David Hodges and Chantal McKinney are working with the committee, and we are being assisted by Bill Wilson and Chris Gambill from the Center for Congregational Health, located here in Winston-Salem.
Our committee will help facilitate a parish-wide discussion and visioning process that will solicit and embody input from parishioners, clergy, staff and others in order to discern common themes and recommendations for how we can and should be more intentional about what we are being called to do as a parish. Our theme for this process is Transforming Lives Together, a component of St. Paul’s mission statement and symbolized by the five loaves and two fish and the feeding of the five thousand. To help guide us through this process, our committee has adopted the following covenant:
With the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we agree to work together, cooperatively and diligently, to help design and facilitate a conversational journey among our St. Paul’s family in order to honor and celebrate our past; to understand and acknowledge our present; and to discern and actively plan for our future, recognizing the limitless power and opportunity all of us at St. Paul’s have to transform our lives and the lives of others.
We are currently finalizing our plan for rolling out what we hope will be an enjoyable, thought-provoking and meaningful time of prayer, discussion and discernment by all members of St. Paul’s that will yield some common visions and attainable goals to help guide our parish and its leaders for the next 3 to 5 years. Please look for additional articles in ParishLife, ParishLight and here for more details about how you can get involved. Beginning in January and continuing throughout the winter/spring semester, there will be various meetings, events and other opportunities to participate in this discussion.
We are very fortunate that in the midst of global economic stress and declining numbers of Christians St. Paul’s continues to be a healthy, vibrant and relevant parish. We hope that as we look to the future, we will take this opportunity to identify, lift up and leverage our strengths so that together we might do even more; even when we think we have only limited resources – nothing but five loaves and two fish. We invite and encourage all of you to be active participants in this conversational journey, as together we explore opportunities for all of us at St. Paul’s to feed and to be fed - to transform and to be transformed.
