A Bigger Vision: A Year in Review Part I
A Bigger Vision:
A Year in Review
Part I
It’s somewhat normal in churches today to have what’s often referred to as a “ministry season.” It’s simply a way of bringing one year in the life of the church to an end and beginning another. Everyone marks time differently. The Jewish calendar begins with Rosh Hashanah in the fall. The Christian liturgical year begins with Advent. Most of us, however, follow the civil calendar, which begins on January 1. For LakePoint, our new ministry season begins each year on September 1. It’s more than just the beginning of another ministry year; it also coincides with the beginning of our fiscal year. Our budgets reset, ministries begin again, and we turn our attention toward the year ahead.
There is something meaningful about having a set time to pause, look back, and begin again.
In one of his more famous poems, T.S. Eliot wrote, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” I’m not nearly as eloquent, so I’ll simply say this: Both endings and beginnings are important. Endings allow us to look back. They help us to remember what happened, to celebrate what went well, and to recognize what we’ve learned. Beginnings allow us to look ahead. They consider where we’re going and what we might do differently. In that sense, an ending is never simply an ending. It can become the starting point for whatever comes next.
That’s why a new ministry season matters. Before we just rush into another year, it’s worth taking a moment to look back. What has God been doing among us? Where have we grown? Where are we healthy? And where might God be inviting us to grow?
Last year, the leadership asked the congregation to take a survey that helped to give us some direction as to where we felt God was calling us as a church to move toward. Some questions asked about church leadership, spiritual formation, and evangelism. There were also suggestions of places we could improve, as well as our strengths.
The survey was conducted through Gloo, a platform that helps churches understand the health and development of their congregations. We weren’t necessarily looking for a grade, and we definitely weren't looking for a way to prove that we were doing everything right. “What we were really looking for was a snapshot that would help us see more clearly where we were healthy, where we had room to grow, and where we needed to become more intentional.”
What we discovered was encouraging. LakePoint has a healthy foundation. We scored highest in areas such as Worship Experience and Trusted Leaders. We also scored highly in Faith Sharing and Serving Others. These are not small things. They tell us that some important things are happening within the life of our church. People trust their leaders and value worship. People are willing to share their faith and are willing to serve.
But the survey also showed us that though we have a healthy foundation, that doesn’t mean the house is finished.
We scored lower in Spiritual Formation and Connected Community. In the area of sending and outward impact, Leadership Development emerged as an area where we need to grow. And in the area of leading the organization, Data-Informed Decision-Making
and Resource Stability were identified as places where we could become stronger.
In other words, the survey didn't tell us that LakePoint was unhealthy. It told us that we have a healthy foundation, but we need to become more intentional about forming people, connecting people, developing leaders, and measuring what we're doing.
Churches can be very busy without necessarily being very intentional. Sometimes we can just offer programs, hold services, fill calendars, and recruit volunteers. We might accomplish a great deal, but can still miss some of the deeper work Jesus has called us to do. The question isn't simply, How much are we doing? The better question is, What kind of fruit is all of this producing in us?
The better questions: Are people becoming more like Jesus? Are people finding meaningful community? Are people discovering their gifts and learning to lead? How much sharing the good news and serving our neighbors is taking place? Are we paying attention to what is actually happening among us?
These types of questions have shaped much of our thinking over this past year. And they have led us to a simple conclusion: we don't need to abandon what is working. We just need to build on it.
We want to continue investing in worship and prayer, and we want to strengthen the things that are already healthy. But at the same time, we want to become more intentional about discipleship, spiritual formation, community, evangelism, leadership, and stewardship.
That has meant some very practical changes. We’ve hired a Worship Pastor and committed ourselves to creating more opportunities for worship and prayer. We've developed new discipleship and spiritual formation classes. We've begun thinking differently about the structure of our church. We've created a leadership manual and are preparing leadership training for the coming ministry year. We've also begun publishing attendance and financial information because we believe healthy churches should pay attention to what is happening and be willing to talk honestly about it.
And this isn’t the vision. They are really just steps toward the vision. And that's really what a new ministry season is about. We look back—not simply to celebrate what happened, and not simply to identify what went wrong—but so that we can look forward with greater clarity. The end is where we start from.
So as we begin another ministry season at LakePoint, we are carrying both gratitude and expectation with us. We are grateful for the foundation God has given us. And we are expecting God to continue building something through us that is bigger than any one program, sermon, ministry, or season.
The question isn't simply: Where have we been?
The question is: Where is God leading us next?
And that is where our vision begins. Not with a new program or strategy, but with a willingness to follow where God is leading us next.
A Year in Review
Part I
It’s somewhat normal in churches today to have what’s often referred to as a “ministry season.” It’s simply a way of bringing one year in the life of the church to an end and beginning another. Everyone marks time differently. The Jewish calendar begins with Rosh Hashanah in the fall. The Christian liturgical year begins with Advent. Most of us, however, follow the civil calendar, which begins on January 1. For LakePoint, our new ministry season begins each year on September 1. It’s more than just the beginning of another ministry year; it also coincides with the beginning of our fiscal year. Our budgets reset, ministries begin again, and we turn our attention toward the year ahead.
There is something meaningful about having a set time to pause, look back, and begin again.
In one of his more famous poems, T.S. Eliot wrote, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” I’m not nearly as eloquent, so I’ll simply say this: Both endings and beginnings are important. Endings allow us to look back. They help us to remember what happened, to celebrate what went well, and to recognize what we’ve learned. Beginnings allow us to look ahead. They consider where we’re going and what we might do differently. In that sense, an ending is never simply an ending. It can become the starting point for whatever comes next.
That’s why a new ministry season matters. Before we just rush into another year, it’s worth taking a moment to look back. What has God been doing among us? Where have we grown? Where are we healthy? And where might God be inviting us to grow?
Last year, the leadership asked the congregation to take a survey that helped to give us some direction as to where we felt God was calling us as a church to move toward. Some questions asked about church leadership, spiritual formation, and evangelism. There were also suggestions of places we could improve, as well as our strengths.
The survey was conducted through Gloo, a platform that helps churches understand the health and development of their congregations. We weren’t necessarily looking for a grade, and we definitely weren't looking for a way to prove that we were doing everything right. “What we were really looking for was a snapshot that would help us see more clearly where we were healthy, where we had room to grow, and where we needed to become more intentional.”
What we discovered was encouraging. LakePoint has a healthy foundation. We scored highest in areas such as Worship Experience and Trusted Leaders. We also scored highly in Faith Sharing and Serving Others. These are not small things. They tell us that some important things are happening within the life of our church. People trust their leaders and value worship. People are willing to share their faith and are willing to serve.
But the survey also showed us that though we have a healthy foundation, that doesn’t mean the house is finished.
We scored lower in Spiritual Formation and Connected Community. In the area of sending and outward impact, Leadership Development emerged as an area where we need to grow. And in the area of leading the organization, Data-Informed Decision-Making
and Resource Stability were identified as places where we could become stronger.
In other words, the survey didn't tell us that LakePoint was unhealthy. It told us that we have a healthy foundation, but we need to become more intentional about forming people, connecting people, developing leaders, and measuring what we're doing.
Churches can be very busy without necessarily being very intentional. Sometimes we can just offer programs, hold services, fill calendars, and recruit volunteers. We might accomplish a great deal, but can still miss some of the deeper work Jesus has called us to do. The question isn't simply, How much are we doing? The better question is, What kind of fruit is all of this producing in us?
The better questions: Are people becoming more like Jesus? Are people finding meaningful community? Are people discovering their gifts and learning to lead? How much sharing the good news and serving our neighbors is taking place? Are we paying attention to what is actually happening among us?
These types of questions have shaped much of our thinking over this past year. And they have led us to a simple conclusion: we don't need to abandon what is working. We just need to build on it.
We want to continue investing in worship and prayer, and we want to strengthen the things that are already healthy. But at the same time, we want to become more intentional about discipleship, spiritual formation, community, evangelism, leadership, and stewardship.
That has meant some very practical changes. We’ve hired a Worship Pastor and committed ourselves to creating more opportunities for worship and prayer. We've developed new discipleship and spiritual formation classes. We've begun thinking differently about the structure of our church. We've created a leadership manual and are preparing leadership training for the coming ministry year. We've also begun publishing attendance and financial information because we believe healthy churches should pay attention to what is happening and be willing to talk honestly about it.
And this isn’t the vision. They are really just steps toward the vision. And that's really what a new ministry season is about. We look back—not simply to celebrate what happened, and not simply to identify what went wrong—but so that we can look forward with greater clarity. The end is where we start from.
So as we begin another ministry season at LakePoint, we are carrying both gratitude and expectation with us. We are grateful for the foundation God has given us. And we are expecting God to continue building something through us that is bigger than any one program, sermon, ministry, or season.
The question isn't simply: Where have we been?
The question is: Where is God leading us next?
And that is where our vision begins. Not with a new program or strategy, but with a willingness to follow where God is leading us next.
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