by Michael Stetlzer
We began 2023 with a new vision of “a vibrant community that seeks a transformational relationship with God, our neighbors, and one another.” In this report, you will find many stories of our vibrant community that tell of those transformational relationships.
I have my own stories – about how sheer faith got me through a difficult presentation to the Roseville city council approval for our Sacred Settlement, about the fun of drawing caricatures at our PoP-Up Carnival, my delight in the involvement of our children and youth in the life of our congregation, and more – but my stories are only a small part of our larger story.
“We’ve a story to tell to the nations” is one of my favorite old hymns. It has a great uplifting message and a tune to match. Prince of Peace has a story to tell, to our neighbors and broader community. As the song says, it’s “a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light”. It is a story of how we seek to “respond authentically, creatively, and justly to the most compelling needs of our community.”
In the past year, our congregation council has finished work on updating our constitution and bylaws. These changes will streamline our organization to help us meet the challenges ahead. This work on “liberating structures”, as we have called it, doesn’t make for good stories. But it will help us steward our time and talents to create more stories of God at work among us.
And for my closing hymn… “You will know we are Christian by our love.”