September 21, 2023 | by Admin
Following Jesus, Thriving in Community, Healing the World. Our new Conference Vision Statement and Values are taking root in communities across California-Nevada since an overwhelming adoption by Annual Conference 2023.
The Core team, the body tasked with overseeing the implementation of the Vision and Values, formed a work group days after ACS 2023 and tasked the group with resourcing our conference as we take on what it means live into our Vision and Values. The work group has developed several initiatives thus far and received a $15,000 grant from the Core team to carry out its work with a goal of fully integrating the Vision Statement across the work of California-Nevada over the next several years.
One of the first steps identified by the work group was translation. The Strategic Vision Articulation which was approved at ACS 2023 is being translated into several languages including Korean, Spanish, Tongan, and Fijian. Other translations will follow including Chinese and Filipino. These translations should be available in October and will be posted on the Vision and Values resource page. You can find the English version there now.
Rev. Sam Yun, chair of the Core team, has begun the first of what we hope will be many sermon series by worship leaders across the conference that unpack what it means to follow Jesus, thrive in healthy communities and be a part of healing in the world. Rev. Yun's series will be available in video, with transcripts, and include a small group tool designed for deeper engagement. Those resources will be posted this fall, so keep checking the website.
We are in Charge Conference season, and each of our District Superintendents will be weaving in concepts around the Vision and Values as they talk with church leaders. If we are following Jesus, thriving in community and healing the world, how does what we do move the vision forward? What should we sunset to give bandwidth for something new and innovative?
Conference Lay Leader Micheal Pope has begun incorporating the Vision Statement in her work with District Lay Leaders. They are reviewing goals and plans through the 3 lenses of our Vision statement and the how-to's outlined in our Values.
Be a part of our Conference-wide Lenten resource for 2024
How are you following Jesus? What does that mean to you and how does it show up in your life? That is the theme of an upcoming Lent resource that will be rolled out early January for Lent 2024. The resource will feature over 40 reflections from folks across the conference sharing how they are following Jesus. We are hoping for submissions from a couple of sentences to around 300 words, modeling the Upper Room Daily Devotional style. We are also hoping to receive video submissions and artwork from people of all ages. Click here to submit your reflection, video or art.
The Core team working group has designated Following Jesus as the vision focus for 2024. The theme for 2025 will be Thriving in Community and Healing the World will center the work in 2026.
