Month: April 2017

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The purpose of the Congregational Vitality Survey is to take a snapshot at the life and ministry of Two Rivers United Methodist Church. The survey’s focus is on Christ’s Great Commission to “go and make disciples.” These questions relate to how this congregation is making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Bishop Frank Beard directed the District Superintendents to select a few churches in each district to participate in this survey. Sylvester Weatherall, our DS, selected TRUMC and invited us to be a part of this program. The Church Council approved this survey as a first step toward a larger vision-making process of Two Rivers Church.

A quick look at all that is happening at TRUMC reveals that there are many ways that the church is active. The Evangelism Team has a renewed focus on reaching out to Downtown Rock Island. The Mission Team continues to serve the meal site, operation safety net, and various other outreach programs. The Discipleship Team has developed a plan for welcoming new people. A Good Neighbor Team has recently been formed to work with World Relief to help settle refugee families in the Quad Cities.

The segment of African brothers and sisters is growing within the church, offering new talents in worship and outreach. The children and youth continue to develop ministries, fellowship, and encounters with Christ. The relationship with the arts community in the Quad Cities has grown, with new relationships with the Quad City institutions such as the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and the River Music Experience.

TRUMC has expanded its reach in the community, and continues to build ways to make disciples of Jesus Christ. There seems to be a new era of activity and growth. It is important however, to be good stewards of our energy, resources, and talents. There is a danger that with all the new things that are going on, we could spread ourselves too thin. The Church Council and I believe that there is a need for a congregational plan to set the vision, mission, and ministry priorities of Two Rivers. Clearly, this is not the first time this kind of thing has been proposed at Two Rivers.

This is a congregation that is over 180 years old. Many members have been a part of it for decades, and have seen many “Visioning Plans,” and “Strategic Meetings” over the years. But times change. People change. Communities change. Visions that were cast even five years ago can seem ancient to some. I believe that even now we are in a much different place then we were just three years ago. It is time to assess where we are, and where we want to head into the future.

The Congregational Vitality Survey is the first step of this process. It will help us see where we are right now. The survey will be offered over a few weeks in worship. A paper survey will be made available in bulletins at worship over the next few weeks. Another paper survey will be sent to everyone who receives a newsletter. You can also help speed the process by filling out the online survey by clicking here or the picture above.

The survey is fairly short. All we ask of you is an honest assessment of what you think about Two Rivers UMC. In a few weeks we will meet with someone from the Illinois Great Rivers Conference Congregational Development office. They will help us evaluate the results of the survey and guide us into the next step of the process of streamlining our efforts for the sake of Christ’s Kingdom.

In Christ,

Pastor Robb