After our regular morning communion service (at which we welcomed Mr Liam Powell: see previous post) we held a communal lunch. Would people provide enough to be able to share? Answer: everyone was well fed with plenty over.
We then stayed, grouped at our tables, as Mike encouraged us to do some "blue sky thinking." Where would we like St Paul's to be in 2020? Each table was asked to write a newspaper front page detailing what had been done, were it to actually have been achieved (including a catchy headline).
When these were read out, each table was asked to select two priorities. Similar ones were grouped and the results recorded on the whiteboard at the front. Each member was then given three "votes" (sticky dots) which they stuck on the board over the three priorities that appealed to them. Having established some priorities, much work will have to be done in fleshing out the details.
It sounds like some busy Church Council Meetings for the future! But if the procedure has helped us establish God's will and has given each of us a vision for the future, it will be well worthwhile.
