To read through a pdf of the excellent devotion led by our Council Vice President, please click here.

At the Advent Church Council Retreat on March 26, the Strategic Planning Team, led by Pastor Charles Miller, and the Church Council adopted the following seven strategic directions for our ministry in the next 3-5 years:

1. Take our current commitments of inviting, welcoming, growing, and giving to a higher level by evaluating infrastructure and developing healthy leadership and a comprehensive communication strategy.
2. Gather and distribute information to the congregation through timely, transparent, and effective channels in order to equip and engage members in the life of the congregation.
3. Develop a bold plan for our church structure that maximizes opportunities for growth and flexibility in ministry.
4. Offer a rich variety of worship and music experiences in order to facilitate growth and deepen the spiritual lives of participants.
5. Enrich and educate children, youth, and their families in faith formation from birth to young adulthood.
6. Embody the Gospel of Jesus Christ through social action initiatives in order to better serve our neighbors, locally and globally.
7. Offer diverse educational opportunities to encourage the spiritual, intellectual, and physical health of our congregation and community.

New teams will be forming around the first 2 initiatives for immediate attention - Growth/Leadership and Communications. Exploratory teams will begin evaluation of the next three directions - Physical Space, Worship and Music and Children, Youth and Family ministries. If you are interested in becoming part of any of these teams, please speak to the designated coordinator. These people are helping form the teams and get the conversation started, but won't necessarily be leading the initiative.

Growth and Leadership
Linda Kelly (lkelly_ny@yahoo.com) and Djamillah Samad (djsamad@aol.com)

Communications
Karen Cantrell (kjcwords@aol.com) and Elba Cabrera (ecab910@optonline.net)

Physical Space
Aaron Wunsch (awunsch@gmail.com) and Madelyn Soussoudis (msoussou@aol.com)

Children, Youth and Family
Becky Eavey (wvugirl16@gmail.com)

Worship and Music
Norma Martin (nmartinnyc@gmail.com) and Naomi Frost (frostn18@yahoo.com)