In February, over 40 members of St. John gathered together on a Saturday and Sunday for a Self-Assessment and Adjustment (SAA) program. With the help of Pastor Roecker from the WELS leadership team, we studied the purpose of a church in the Bible and asked ourselves the question, “are we doing everything we can, as a congregation, to lead people closer to Christ?” This session was preceded by several months of study, performed by our Church Council, on our congregation and the community around us.
The SAA session was an amazing and energizing journey for us to consider our church, our community, and to realize the need for change to reverse the trend of declining church attendance we have experienced over the last several years. How powerful it was to study God’s word and pray together with so many of you!
Please join us after church on Sunday May 5th to discuss the results and recommendations from the SAA program. This discussion is important for us to move forward together as a congregation and decide, does God want us to:
- Remain where we are, with a renewed focus on outreach in our community,
- Relocate and focus our outreach efforts on a different community, or
- Cease operating as a church, and encourage members to join other WELS churches.
A copy of the SAA report, written by Pastor Roecker, was included in member mailboxes and can be found at the following link: www.stjohnev.net/report. In addition, a copy of the 45 page congregation and community study is available on a table in the narthex and at the following link: www.stjohnev.net/profile.
It is our hope that you will review and prayerfully consider the results and recommendations outlined in this report and join us May 5th with an energy to discuss how we can best share the gospel.
In humble service to God and to St. John,
The Church Council
Tony Wimmer, Jeff Abrahamsson, Tom Koepsell, Jim Julian, Jim Connolly, Mike Tholl, Darrell Crider, Derek Meyer
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