Vision 2015

The VISION for First Presbyterian Church of Lansing

Hospitality and Inclusiveness

We envision a church whose worship, programs, practices, and policies actively seek, intentionally welcome, and fully reflects the diversity of persons, cultures, languages, and lifestyles of the greater Lansing community.

  • We will implement new means of making ourselves and our welcome better known through enhanced use of website, signage, intentional contact with our neighborhood, and by training our members on how to invite others.
  • We will develop deeper relationships with gay and lesbian communities, refugee communities, and other excluded or marginalized communities in Lansing.
  • We will deepen our relationship with Westminster Presbyterian and North Presbyterian churches and other community churches.
  • We will actively participate as an institutional member in a local neighborhood association.

Mission

We envision a church whose life is more self-consciously shaped around Jesus' ministry of healing and compassion and whose members are equipped and enabled to directly serve the poor and marginalized in our nation, world, and especially our community.

  • We will use our building and property for the facilitation of mission.
  • We will evaluate a proposed mission program in part by its capacity to involve church members in practical, “hands-on” ways.
  • We will prioritize and increase funding by focusing on particular projects and reduce the number of external mission programs supported with small annual contributions.
  • We will develop and implement survey processes to continually assess the needs in our local community and strengthen our partnerships with other churches and organizations endeavoring to meet needs in the metropolitan area.
  • We will strive to increase our level of financial mission support to a minimum of 10% of our pledged income by 2015.
  • We will advertize and promote experiential opportunities for “mission tourism” nationally and globally.

Congregation Connection Groups

We envision a church whose members are friends of one another because they are friends of Christ, and whose familiarity and sense of family is enhanced through regular and concrete acts of contact, caring, and community celebration inclusive of the full worshiping community.

  • We will build and maintain formal networks which connectcongregantswith one another at new levels of friendship, support, care, and nurture so that each person is personally encouraged and then becomes part of a "congregation connection group".
  • We will encourage on-going relationships within these groups which are free to enlarge their group and establish relationships by means of study or fellowship as each group determines.
  • The Church Staff, Elders, and Deacons will supportand collaborate with the groups’ leaders by means of continued training and involvement.

Education

We envision a church whose membership is equipped to serve and challenged to grow in knowledge and understanding of self and of God through regular opportunities of study, instruction, discussion, and practical experience, to the end that all are made disciples.

  • We will recognize the centrality of education in our church by budgeting monies equal to a full time equivalent position tocoordinate robust and expanded education programs for all ages.
  • We will define our prime education goals to be preparing members for life-changing discipleship and training of church leaders.
  • We will continue to explore and employ available technology as means of teaching and learning, and we will assure our facilities are upgraded to accommodate our educational program
  • We will greatly increase the involvement and visibility of our children and youth in all aspects of the church's life and intentionally make use of non-traditional techniques and programs to engage them.
  • We will approach education as an implicit element in everything we do as a faith community, so that learning may occur in worship, fellowship, mission work, small group meetings, etc.
  • We will increase the number of offerings, the means of delivery, and the sites our education programs are offered. We will strive to make them more interactive and emphasize service learning.
  • We will provide opportunities to support parents and fulfill their learning needs relative to their goal of rearing Christian children.

Adopted by Session 12/16/09 for distribution to the congregation