A Note from the Pastor, May 26, 2013

  As many of you know, the past 6 months at Hope have included a process whereby the leadership has

wrestled with how we discern “The Next Chapter” in the Journey of Hope Fellowship. If you've been following along with regular updates in the Hope Fellowship Sun, you would know that what started in December, included a Discovery Weekend, language around three words that started with B’s; BELIEVE, BELONG and BLESS, Sunday messages referencing these words, and included a week of full participation in the development of Courageous Proposals is now coming down to the final few weeks before the Celebration Service on June 2nd! What started with:

• ONE meeting with Jack Tacoma, and
• 25+ members of our leadership team
• 21 days of Prayer
• A 2 day Discovery Weekend, involving our staff and leadership teams,
• Culminating in the 3 “B’s”, with
• 3 distinct Goal Statements
• 1 renewed passion for discerning God’s purpose and will for Hope
• 3 days of Courageous Proposals, that resulted in
• 97 members participating in groups that came up with 
• 104 Courageous Proposals, that showed
• 12 Distinct themes, that have resulted in
• 3-4 initiatives that we pray will guide us over the next
• 5 years and beyond!

  As a planning team for this Journey, we would like to thank everyone for their ‘full on’ participation in the process, and for the courage you have shown in stepping up to be a part of this. The list of proposals was amazing, and full of ideas on how we could grow spiritually as individuals and as a corporate body of believers. You shared ideas on how we might better link our family together regardless of the age or generation a person finds themselves in, whether that is through events or the leveraging of technology. We also read wonderful ideas on how to best utilize the gift of property that we have been given, while seeking ways to serve our local community as well as blessing global communities in need.
  Although we are aware that not all 104 proposals could be adopted, we were amazed at how many very similar ideas and themes came through in the process. It is our prayer that although the specific proposal you wrote may not be the one that you see or hear about on June 2nd, we hope you are able to identify a part of it in one of the initiatives.
  As we move beyond the Celebration Service, and begin the implementation process we will be looking to build teams around each of the initiatives. These teams would work on the development and further planning of the initiatives, while engaging our staff and membership in ensuring that we as a community see the fruit born from the goals, proposals and initiatives.
  We look forward to celebrating with all of you on June 2nd!

Sincerely,
The Planning Team: Judi, Brian, Paul, Alisha, Kevin, and Pastor Peter