Our 125th Anniversary Questions have been these:
1.
What did our founders set in place 125 years ago
that we still value today?
2.
What will we establish that will cause gratitude
125 years from now?
During Lent, we offered a Parish Values Clarification
process to explore these questions. The staff and the Vestry also set aside time
to reflect on the values of the parish using the same model that examines accidental values, aspirational
values, and core values. The work was previously recorded on this blog. An ad hoc
committee worked during May and June to analyze the data and prepare our
findings.
The results of this exercise will guide the Vestry,
lay-leadership, and staff as we seek to build on the strengths of our church
community and grow into the community we aspire to be.
The Core Values of the parish are those values that set St.
Martin's apart from other worshipping communities. They are long-standing attributes and ones
that we are willing to pay a price to preserve and perpetuate. Without these values, St. Martin's would not
be recognizable as the church we know and love.
The core values we
identified are below. They form a
Trinitarian pattern thanks to an insight by Pam Prell during the vestry
discussion that produced the final result:
1.
Learning leads to God.
2.
We encounter Christ in caring for others and in
receiving care.
3.
We strive for beauty in worship, physical spaces, and life together. Creativity is
inspired by the Holy Spirit.
St. Martin's is a community of life-long learners who find
education enhances our insights about God and does not detract from faith, as is
commonly believed. Our parish avidly
cares for each other, lending the support of listening ears through Stephen
Ministry, hand-holding, warm embraces, meals during crisis, Wednesday SUPPER, and so much more. Finally, St. Martin's
is deeply grounded in the Episcopal belief that life in God’s presence is
beautiful. Whether God’s
presence is celebrated in liturgy, music, nature, architecture, food, art, or
community engagement – the result is inspired, transcendent beauty restored to
God’s creation. Contrary to common
belief, the Anglo-Catholic or the “high
church” movement celebrated beauty in music and liturgy as part and parcel of a
belief in the goodness of God’s creation and the potential goodness of a just
social order. Oxford Movement clergy
were as adamant about social justice as they were about liturgy. Both equally reflect the glory of God.
The aspirational values we identified were extremely clear
across the groups that participated in the process. The Vestry will take up these aspirational
values and surround them with goals and objectives so that we can track our progress
toward their realization. The
aspirational values:
1.
Community Engagement and Social Justice
2.
Unconditional Welcome and Inclusion
3.
A community that calls forth the gifts of all
its people
4.
Becoming a Racism-Free and Diverse Community
that reflects the City where we worship
During Annual Meeting (Sunday, June 15 after 10:00 a.m. service), we will have table discussions that
invite the parish community to discuss our Core Values and our Aspirational
Values by asking the questions: Where
will these values lead us? Who will we
become as we grow into these values? As
a community we will use our imagination and grow our vision of our future together
in Christ.
- The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel
