Please look for the invitation from our Mission Cohort for the Mission Retreat on Saturday, April 20th from 9:00am till noon. I hope that you already have it on your calendar or at least that you are considering attending this morning set aside for the mission ministry of Westminster, as we need your perspective and input.

At its March meeting, Session devoted most of its time to Westminster's missions. As you can imagine there is much excitement about our Community of Faith's commitment to Social Justice and what we have accomplished to further the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth locally, nationally, and internationally. This history of Westminster's commitment to peacemaking goes way back to its inception in 1874 and is indeed the vision that will help Westminster grow into its future.

This vision of Westminster missions is stated on our website and is taken from and inspired by the the prophet Micah who calls us "to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). Here at Westminster we see this verse manifested in our mission, as:
To do justice we will act in solidarity with and speak on behalf of peoples deprived of their human rights, dispossessed of material well being, and suffering from violence;
To love kindness we will provide assistance to the weary, hungry, and broken; and work for peace and reconciliation in the world; and
To walk humbly with God we will venerate the earth and its bounty and will strive for equitable sharing and sustainability of God's world with all peoples - locally, nationally, and internationally.

Although Session is excited about all we do in missions and is amazed that a relatively small group of people like us can accomplish such ministries and projects, it did become clear in our conversation that we have become so committed to our smaller groups (that is, General Mission, Immigration, Middle East Peace, and Green Peace) that we have lost the big picture of the Mission of Westminster Presbyterian Church. For newcomers to our community this can be very confusing as they are not quite sure what we stand for as a church and what it is that we are really trying to do. For others it is difficult as they want to get involved and learn of all our missions, but one almost has to make a choice for one of these four groups as it becomes impossible to attend four different meetings each month. We also realized that keeping four committees going is a lot to expect from a small group of people.

So to put you at ease, at this retreat we are not looking for ways to reinvent the wheel or even come up with a list of new mission opportunities. I guarantee that it is not going to be one of "those meetings" that you attend and walk out overwhelmed as you just got volunteered by others to do something they did not want to do themselves.

My prayer is, however, that it is going to be: a conversation where we will listen to all voices as we discern how we can indeed become the "Intentionally Inclusive" church we are called to be; a time for us to realize how we all fit into the Mission of Westminster and work with intentionality; and how we can move beyond "my issue" to "our mission".

It is for these reasons that I want you to attend the retreat! It is about doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God; it is about following the ways of Jesus of Nazareth who multiplied fish and bread to feed five thousand and proclaimed that the kin-dom of God is at hand; and it is about the future of our Community of Faith where you are called to serve.
I personally do hope to see you on Saturday, April 20th from 9:00am till noon!

Thanks,
Dries