Rev. Jennifer Olin-Hitt
(read her letter to us!)

Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday:

9:30 AM - 3:00 PM

Past sermons to reflect on

As a church we keep busy with many activities.  We drive to our building on Turkeyfoot Lake Rd.  We prepare for Sunday School.  We put together mailings, newsletters, and worship bulletins.  We fix church property.  We host cub scouts.  We prepare and eat meals together.  The list can go on and on defining all of things we do.  There is no shortage of activity.  But in the midst of all this busyness, what is God calling us to do and be?  It’s necessary to set priorities in our own personal lives and in our life as a congregation.  Otherwise, we end up with an enormous task list, and we do not have the energy to tackle it.

In 2010, GVUMC will be focusing on the Three Rs (and I don’t mean Readin’, Riting’ and Rithmetic!).  This year our priorities will be Reaching Out, Receiving In, and Raising Up in Christ.  Our Administrative Council adopted this mission a few months ago as a way of narrowing down the scope of our work.  We decided that by focusing on the Three Rs we will conserve our energy for the most important tasks of bringing people into the life of the church.  We will focus on making disciples of Jesus for the transformation of the world.

Even with the sharp focus of the Three Rs, this is a tall order!  There are many ways we could reach out, receive people, and raise them up in Christ.  For this reason, the Nominations Team has named ten people plus me who will begin to serve this year on the “Three Rs Team.”  (See the nominations report in this newsletter for a list of these people.)  This group reports to Ad Council and is given the task of focusing on this vision and listening to God for direction.  The Three Rs Team will meet regularly and faithfully.  They will study things like the demographics of our neighborhood to figure out what kind of people live around us who need the relationship with Christ that this church can offer.  They will determine what tools we need in our tool box to reach these people, to nurture these people.  They will chart a course that includes outreach, evangelism, teaching, prayer.

The work of this team will impact our life together for the next few years.  This process will keep us from floating along aimlessly from day to day.  If we do it right, we can have an exciting call that unifies our church around a common sense of mission and purpose.

What can you do to help your church in this time?  Pray for this team – that they hear from God.  Remain open in mind and heart about new possibilities for our life together.  Ask God to help you work through any fears of change you might have.  Finally, we move into this new year aware that God has a deep heart ache for a whole world of people who sit beyond our doors.  And God would have us carry the same concern.  To be a follower of Jesus means that we follow him in ministry.  I look forward to seeing you in church in this new year

Your pastor,

Jennifer Olin-Hitt