Q&A - Vision 2026

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Q-and-A on Vision 2026: Deep & Wide: Deeper Roots, Greater Reach Pastor Ross D. Shelton, September, 2023 What was the process in developing the Vision 2026: Deep and Wide Vision? Over the past few years, we have been in a discerning process about where God may be leading our church in the next season. During this time of discernment, I have sought the Lord and what He is placing on our hearts; listened to our ministerial staff (pastors and ministry directors), our deacons, and others in our church; and tried to learn from the lessons of what went well and what could have been improved upon from our Vision 2020. One of the most important aspects of this process was discerning the foundational verses in Jeremiah 17:7-8; these verses provide the grounding in God’s Word we need as we look ahead.

How will the vision function in the life of our church? This vision is focused on how we believe God is calling us to strategically focus in particular areas over the next three years as we prepare for the 180th anniversary of our church in December 2026! The vision will hopefully inspire our church as we look ahead and help us focus on these areas of need. It will also help me in providing strategic leadership to our church.

Are there any leftover areas of focus from Vision 2020 that still need attention? Yes, there are two areas that will still receive attention as we move forward. One of our “God Goals” in Vision 2020 was to have strategic mission partnerships - with each having a different area of focus - in Central America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, South Asia, and East Asia. God has graciously given us direction and partnerships in each of these areas except for Europe and East Asia. We will continue to pray for who will be our East Asia and Europe partnerships. Second, we gave attention to the opportunities connected with the growing retiree population in our Vision 2020.

The focus was finding a staffing opportunity for this area of focus. We still believe

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strongly in the need to reach the growing retiree population, and we will discern creative staffing opportunities focused on outreach to the entirety of our community and to the unique opportunities to reach and connect with retirees.

Is your plan just to add more staff, and if this is the case, is this financially prudent?

We will be doing a thorough evaluation of current and future staff needs as we discern the opportunities to staff with a vision toward outreach. It may mean a new position or creatively restructuring aspects of our current staff. That is, we will not add staff “just to add staff.” Instead, we will discern the opportunities, assess the financial expense/investment, and discern how to step out in faith. As always, the staff and I take seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of the financial giving God provides to our church.

Why are there two formats of the vision? The main copy of the vision that you will find on the Guest Welcome Table and our website is the most accessible and hopefully most inspirational. The “White Paper” version of the vision found on the website is a more basic format and provides some more “nuts-and-bolts” information for those who want to read this.

Where can copies of the vision be found? Copies are available on the Guest Welcome Table or you can read it by going to https://fbc-brenham.org/about-us/deep-wide/. If you go to our website, you will find a link to what will be available on Sunday morning (Vision 2026) and the other format (Vision 2026 – White Paper).