Just Values Update

Over the past month, and particularly during the last two days in person, leaders from our congregation have engaged in a process of discernment through an assessment called Just Values. This journey began three years ago when the Elders collaborated with Dr. Bar McClure. While much has transpired since then, we now find ourselves at a significant milestone—though our journey is far from over.

One of the key reasons we embarked on this work was to uncover our core values—our “packets of energy”—and explore how these might guide us toward a deeper, more meaningful way of being the Church in this rapidly changing landscape. We are on an ongoing journey of discovery, striving to know, learn, and become the Church God is calling us to be. Part of that journey involves learning to hold loosely to what we’ve known, so we can embrace what is new.

In our work with Bar, we envisioned Washington Avenue Christian Church as a congregation that:

• Recognizes and embraces the diversity of individuals, welcoming everyone as they are and providing opportunities for growth in faith and discipleship.
• Seeks new ways to understand the living Gospel, offering opportunities to learn, study, and explore.
• Empowers people to live out their faith by embracing others, regardless of gender, culture, ethnic background, or any other differences.
• Flourishes in faithfulness to God, engaging in transformation, embodying ministries of fierce compassion, and cultivating beauty for the world that God so loves.

These vision statements represent just a fraction of what we discerned during our workshops. Even so, we can already sense how they are energizing us on our journey of becoming.

While this work is still fresh in our minds, we are allowing it to percolate and simmer. Our Just Values Leadership Team will meet again in early April, and we will continue to nurture the dream of living into our values as God calls us to be the Church.

As your pastor, I found this work both energizing and invigorating. I shared with the team that hearing about our church’s values made me fall in love with WACC all over again. You, dear friends, are a good and faithful congregation, and I am deeply honored to partner with you as we seek first the future that God wants and ultimately will have.

Peace abundant,

Pastor Nathan