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Vision Discernment in the Southern Province God's will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Core Values and Bedrock Beliefs Small groups of pastors, Synod delegates, and congregational members will gather in the southern province to talk about who we are and what we believe. The information from these small group gatherings will be given to Provincial Elders' Conference and they in turn will discern the values and beliefs that we hold in common as a province. Every person is invited to become involved. If your congregation doesn't have a visioning process or event planned and you are interested in participating, you are invited to make reservations at a provincial wide gathering of Moravians. The gathering for congregational members will be from 12:30 - 4:30 p.m., Saturday, February 16, New Philadelphia Moravian, Fellowship Hall. Reservations are necessary for planning. Contact Becky Honeycutt with your reservation by email: bhoneycutt@mcsp.org. Prayers for Vision (wait, listen, question) The PEC will announce the values and beliefs to our congregations and everyone will have an opportunity to see those we hold in common. At that point, each congregation is asked to create intentional periods for reflection on these values and beliefs and pray that God will reveal a vision of what we need to be or do. This is a time for questioning God and questioning what we are currently doing and ask God who he wants us to be. Some will choose to fast and pray during this period, while others will meet in small groups to pray, and others will incorporate prayer into daily devotions, small groups, meetings, and services. We ask during this time for every member to observe what's going on in our culture, outside our congregations, and pray for God to show us how we can reach out to those who are seeking God but haven't found a church home. What is their life situation? What are their needs? How can we share our faith experiences with Jesus Christ with them? What is God asking us to do? Visioning Event for congregations A model for a congregational visioning event where every person has the opportunity to share his or her vision may be obtained by a pastor from Judy Knopf, jknopf@mcsp.org. The visions that come from members of our congregations will not only be useful within each congregation, but also will be sent back to the PEC office and distributed to Synod ministry groups. So every member has the opportunity to contribute to the life and work of this Synod. The visions will also assist Synod in formulating a simple, powerful, graphic, mission statement. This will communicate our identity, not only to Moravians, but also for us to the public. The 2002 Synod will be held at Black Mountain, NC, April 17 - 21.
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