Dear Friends,

Last fall and early this year many of you participated in Long-Range Planning town halls and feedback sessions. We continue to be deeply grateful for your input during those conversations — input you will see reflected in the plan we subsequently proposed to Session.

Now we are pleased to share that Session approved the long-range plan this spring, and as a congregation we will soon be moving from planning into the implementation phase.

The Long-Range Plan

As we look forward to the shared opportunities before us in this work, we encourage you to take some time to read the outline of the long-range plan.

Throughout you will see a particular sense of call that emerged time and again in the long-range planning sessions — the theme of “Reflecting the light of Christ by loving God and one another.”

That vision finds its biblical grounding in Jesus’ teaching about the Great Commandment: 

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28b–31)

Integrating passion for mission with a life of faith — love of neighbor and love of God — is what we, as church, have to offer. It’s what differentiates us from other ways to engage, be it nonprofits, affinity groups, or other secular associations.

This life of faith, we recognize, does not happen in isolation. As Tom Are has pointed out, “Christianity lives in relationship. Our faith is found in the space between us; it connects us.”

Thus weaving the long-range plan —and its strategic directions together — is a commitment to connection, to spiritual nurture, to community, and to sustainability.

Strategic Directions

Providing the framework of our long-range plan are four strategic directions.

1. Connections and Belonging

Build and sustain an all-encompassing culture of personal invitation and welcome — from the pulpit, in the pews, online, and throughout the church — that creates opportunities for deeper engagement and meaningful connections.

2. Faith Formation

Be a faith community that supports individuals and groups in exploring and growing their relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

3. Community Engagement and Partnerships

Live out our faith by serving as a catalyst for a healthy, flourishing community through targeted, impactful programs grounded in community need, by working in solidarity with community partners, and by raising our voice through advocacy and social leadership.

4. Church Sustainability

Create and sustain a shared purpose and common set of values among Fourth Church staff and leadership, develop our internal skills and talents, and ensure the systems, structures and financial resources needed to preserve the long-term impact of our ministry are in place.

Goals and Timeline

Each strategic directive is supported by goals that are outlined in the long-range plan summary. Currently our pastors, staff, and congregational councils are reviewing the specific goals and indicating where these teams will focus their work.

In addition, by the end of May they will have identified proposed tactics for goals to accomplish in the next year and, along with that, progress measures to assess the effectiveness of the tactics.

In following the timeline for our long-range planning work, proposed tactics and progress measures will be shared with the Long-Range Planning Task Force and Session in June as Session looks at how we will move forward in this first year of the plan.

Like you, we are eager to see the first steps of implementation begin, and we encourage you to watch for ways in which you might join in these efforts to continue to reflect the light of Christ by loving God and one another.

As we lift up the integration of mission with a life of faith, we are also reminded of words Tom Are recently shared with us:

“Mission churches can sometimes take for granted the church family. We assume that what draws everyone is the light we are shining in the city. But our capacity to reflect the light of Christ to others is connected to our capacity to stand in that light. We all have different seasons in our lives. Sometimes we are serving, but sometimes we need to be fed, need care and comfort, and sometimes we just need our faith to grow.”

In whatever season you may find yourself, we are confident you will find a connection point in our shared life of mission and spiritual nurture. We look forward to meeting you there!

Long-Range Planning Task Force

Eric Wu (co-chair), Allison Youngblood (co-chair), Janet Love, Diane Meister, Theresa Mintle, Anne Voshel, Betsy Zeiger, Tom Are Jr., (staff), Nancy Benson-Nicol (staff), Jana Blazek (staff support)