The Plan
The 2024 election holds the potential to negatively impact many lives in our faith community and in the world around us. We recognize that our call is to care for as many people as we can, and to face the days ahead with clarity of purpose, following Jesus, and proclaiming the love of God for all. We also recognize that once the outcome of this election is clear, our first work might be that of faithful resistance to policies of destruction and oppression, and as such we will need to be galvanized spiritually and emotionally for the way ahead.
To do this, we also recognize we will need to focus, remembering that the work is long term and will need to be sustainable. These are the areas St. John’s leaders believe will be our best and most sustainable response in the wake of the 2024 election – no matter the outcome! Based on the feedback from parishioners about what we believe will be most needed after the election, the steps we intend to take, knowing that as we keep these priorities and foci in front of us, more steps will become clear and can be taken as we deepen our work together.
To the extent that the available income in 2025 allows, we commit to increase budget support for:
Women’s Ministry
Guest Preachers/Racial Reconciliation
Children & Youth Ministry
Migrant Ministry
Justice Work
Staff salaries and benefits
Hunger Relief
Care of our building as a place of community welcome and a space of spiritual formation
We also hope to increase volunteer engagement and participation in each of these essential areas.
St. John’s also commits to:
Discipleship – The work ahead of us will depend not on individual human efforts, but on disciples of Jesus, relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, to follow God’s call into service. To this end, we will recommit to the work of discipleship in the year ahead, through prayer and worship, but also in formation and spiritual life, cultivating an approach that is both shared and distributed, staff and volunteer, lay and ordained. In this way, with a spirit of discernment, we will engage as many members to think creatively and collectively about what it means to follow Jesus in the wake of the election.
Prayer – During the week of the election, pastoral care team members were available to pray with people who were hurting, lonely, afraid, or anxious about any specific need, and especially those needs connected to the election. We encourage our members to consider making online Morning Prayer or our recurring Compline service a part of their regular spiritual practice.
Pastoral Care – Our pastoral care ministry, Circle of Care, has expanded considerably in the past year with several new and recommitted members. Our hope is to deploy these pastoral care members with greater frequency to directly respond to the pastoral needs of those named in this process who might be most impacted by the election. This group is an excellent resource for us in any season, but especially following the election.
Big Wonder – You may have heard that our partnership with Big Wonder is expanding as they have grown. We are leasing new space to them as their early childhood center grows and expands. And while this relationship is mutually beneficial to us as it is to them, we remain committed to finding ways through scholarships, and other resources, to expanding our tangible support to this vital partner, who is engaged in the real work of anti-bias, antiracist, and gender justice in our community.
Formation– Finally, the year (and possibly years) ahead will require greater spiritual growth, faithfulness, and renewal among all of us as people of faith. We are encouraging our whole faith community to engage more deeply in the life of faith formation, Bible Study, and discipleship, and the our offerings of these programs in the year ahead. Our focus in these ministries is often on justice work and learning around issues of racism, gender equality, poverty and so much more. But, just as important is the growing awareness of the power of God’s love to change the world, the saving work we encounter in Jesus, and the liberating energy the Holy Spirit makes available to us and to everyone. Our call is to be growing in this knowledge and faith so that we are better equipped to serve the world and to be agents of God’s hope, justice, and love for all!
