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Parish Letter
June 21, 2010
Stepping Out in Faith - Our Future Together at Snowmass Chapel
We are in the midst of an incredible time of opportunity, excitement, and enthusiasm at the Chapel! Thanks to the sacrificial work and giving of so many people in the past, we are now set to move the Chapel forward in ways that will enable us to reach more people and to transform the lives of many, including those who are searching, struggling, or seeking the purpose and meaning of life.
Over the last year, we have taken the time to listen to the dreams, heartaches, and hopes of many. We have engaged in a Chapel-wide survey process and held open meetings. The Board of Trustees and Robert have talked, prayed, and engaged in hours of discussion and planning. The purpose of this communication is to bring you up to speed on what has been happening over the last several months.
The mission of Snowmass Chapel, as newly defined by our Board, is “To Love the Lord our God with all that we are, all that we have, and all that we will become, and to love others as ourselves.” The vision of Snowmass Chapel is “To experience the challenge and adventure of knowing and serving Jesus Christ.”
Both our mission and vision statements have guided us to discern that the number one priority of Snowmass Chapel is our programs and ministries. First and foremost, we are a Christian community of followers of Jesus Christ that is all about people. It is because we are all about people that we have this priority and have established where our focus will be in the months ahead. We will focus on our new Mission statement in upcoming sermons and in a six-week Bible Study (40 Days of Love) led by our pastor, Robert, this summer!
Seven Adventures
At our recent Board retreat, we developed seven new ministry and program initiatives for the Chapel. Each of these “Seven Adventures” come from what we have heard from the people of the Chapel and our own prayerful discernment.
As we focus on these seven areas, we believe we are called to boldly step out in faith and, as a result, we are in for a faith filled adventure! We are committed to follow where our Guide (Jesus Christ) leads us and we are open to being surprised and flexible in our plans as things progress. In the near term, our focus at the Chapel will be on the development of the following areas:
Children, Youth, Young Adults, and Families we want to not only grow our program but establish a compelling, character-forming ministry that children, young adults and families want to be a part of valley-wide
Adult Spiritual Formation and Growth we seek to establish the Chapel as a center for dynamic learning and growing in our Christian faith
Christian Outreach we intend to reach people in need, locally, regionally, and internationally
Connecting people of all ages are seeking relationships and meaningful connections, and we want to create dynamic adventure-filled opportunities for this to happen
Chapel Partnership although we do not have members in a traditional sense, we seek to establish creative means through which people can partner with the Chapel in a variety of engaging ways
Growing the Chapel we take the Christ’s Great Commission seriously as we seek innovative strategies to grow the Chapel
Communication our 21st century offers a multitude of ways to communicate, and we want to put the Chapel out in front regarding how we communicate with, and reach, people
Although we have established these seven focus areas, we remain committed to compassionate pastoral care, our dynamic music program, and excellence in worship as well as our existing programs.
Legacy Fund
The Board has determined that we need to plan for both the short- and long-term financial health of the Chapel. Our primary fiscal obligation is to fund ministries and programs that will transform lives. While we continue to seek expanded financial support through weekly offerings and annual pledges, we are in the process of developing a Legacy Fund. The purpose of this Fund is to enable people to support the ministries of the Chapel through wills, life insurance policies, trusts, bequests, and other means. In the late Summer to early Fall of 2010, our Legacy Fund will be launched.
New Sanctuary
For now, the New Sanctuary project is on hold.= Plans have not been scrapped.= It is our belief that the Chapel will grow over the years ahead as a result of putting ministries, programs, and therefore people first.= But for now, the Board and New Sanctuary Committee both strongly believe that now is the time to build the church not build the building. Funds generously contributed to the New Sanctuary are being conservatively and professionally managed and continue to grow for future building construction use. We consider funds given to date to be a tremendous gift for the future.
The Board will evaluate this project on an annual basis. While we have dreams for the future, we do not want the New Sanctuary to distract us from our primary mission nor divert funds needed to support what we do on a daily basis. We trust God will lead and guide us over the years ahead as to how, when, and with what to proceed.
Leadership Commitments
Both the Board of Trustees and Robert are striving to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ in all that we do. In the last few months, as a leadership team, we have come together to commit to the following to the people of Snowmass Chapel:
- To strive to meet the leadership expectations developed at a recent retreat. We encourage you to explore these detailed expectations on our webpage: www.snowmasschapel.org.
- To meet monthly and to break into working subcommittees to get things done and to include as many people as possible in our “seven adventure” areas.
- To make decisions only after broad input from the people of the Chapel, and to be guided by our mission and vision statements.
- To be people of continual prayer and daily biblical study.
- To operate the Chapel with complete fiscal transparency and prudence, and to operate the Chapel in as cost-effective manner as possible.
- To work hard as a team to bring our Seven Adventures detailed above to fruition.
With gratitude, prayers and love,
The Board of Trustees and Robert +