|
|
|
|
Vision Sunday Service and Easter Vestry, 10.30am, April 25On Vision Sunday we will have one service, then lunch together and this will be followed by our Annual Easter Vestry. Please plan to stay for the culmination of almost a year of preparation by the Cathedral Select Vestry to discuss the vision for the growth of our parish. We asked worshippers to fill out census forms last November. Questionnaires also went to local businesses and those who serve the local community. Parents of children who attend our Parish groups also provided their thoughts on the Cathedral and its organisations. We have received the first report from this Parish audit. Further meetings will follow with our consultant from CREED Ireland to look at the resulting recommendations, which will influence our vision development. On Sunday, April 25, we will present the vision for discussion and further refining. Jeremiah 29 set the scene when we met Karen Jardine of CREED Ireland to receive our first report. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” God has these plans for His church in Lisburn and the Cathedral. Interestingly, during the meeting a key focus was on an earlier verse from this Chapter: “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” It is important in all that we are doing we pray for our city to prosper - that means in terms of business confidence and economy, it also means we passionately want our City to prosper spiritually, to be a good place for its residents, a place of peace and justice, where Christ and his followers are known and respected. This biblical picture is the foundation for our thinking as a people who desire to engage with the community in our city and be a blessing to all. From this basis we will seek God’s will for our mission strategy for the future. This will help us determine how best to engage with the local community, our priorities, the staff we will need to take forward these recommendations, the best use for our busy premises and appropriate developments to engage with our neighbours in the City. God is doing exciting things among us and opening our minds to new possibilities. Vision Sunday on April 25 promises to be a most significant time of fellowship, of worship, discussion, lunching and the election of our new select vestry, who will be charged with carrying forward the Vision for the Cathedral. Please make every effort to join us on Vision Sunday, to pray for God’s clear guidance and for us all to have the courage to make the decisions required to enable us to more effectively witness Good News to the city in order that its people may know peace and prosperity. Sam Wright |
|
|
