Dear Friends in Christ—
What does dreaming look like to you?
Some of you may have a very literal answer: a person asleep, maybe with eyes twitching under closed lids. Some of you may be a little more metaphorical. You might describe daydreaming, a person perhaps looking off into the distance.
I think dreaming looks like a lot of calendars, post-it notes, and prayers. Or, that’s at least what dreaming will look like for our staff next week, when we take our quarterly planning days.
We have made these days an intentional practice over the past year. We close the office for two days in a row. During the first day, each staff member works alone. I encourage them not to make appointments or schedule meetings during that time. Instead, a quiet day allows each of us to dive deeply into whatever work requires sustained attention and concentration.
During the second day, we meet together, offsite if we can. We take the work we have done as individuals and do it as a team. Some of our dreams are very pragmatic. We imagine what it would be like if our systems or processes worked differently. But other dreams are spurred by large questions. What theme would help this congregation grow spiritually at this moment in time? What goals should we keep in front of us as we minister to and with Grace Church in the year ahead?
Next Tuesday, June 13, will be our day for individual planning. On Wednesday, June 14, we meet as a team. We’ll work on the 2023-2024 calendar, check in on long-term projects in process (such as our website refresh), and sketch our vision for the year ahead.
The staff undertakes this ministry in order to enable the people of Grace Church to do their ministry. I know that summer is a quiet(er) season in the church—which means that it is the time when creativity can flourish and new ideas take root. If we staff do our jobs rightly at our planning days, we’ll create a canvas for the dreams of this church, a scaffold on which something sturdy and beautiful can be built.
Please keep us in your prayers. And get ready for some dreams of your own.
Yours in Christ,
Anne+