From the Senior Pastor
Ever Forward
Pr. Randy Gehring
The plan has three strategic goals that will enable us to achieve our vision: Guided by God’s grace and in response to our changing world, we will nurture community and serve those in need.
1. Build Our Savior’s identity and stretch our boundaries as a “Church of Substance.” This goal will lead us down a path of describing and claiming both who we are as a congregation in mission for the sake of the world as well as who we are aspiring to be. This will be accomplished through focused reflection and conversation on five word pairs: Courageously Vulnerable; Deliberately Atypical; Shamelessly Gracious; Boldly Exploring; and Faithfully Engaged. I hope each of you will participate in this formative exercise that will bring clarity to who God is calling us to be.
2. Prioritize financial stability and capacity to achieve the vision. There is no doubt that the pandemic as well as our focus on justice issues have reshaped our congregation to the extent that we need to reassess how we are structured for ministry. At its core, this goal is about stewarding the abundant resources with which God has blessed us.
3. Increase meaningful membership growth, retention, and engagement. Pandemic isolation and uncertainty seriously affected our sense of community. This goal will help us focus on rebuilding our connections with one another as well as identifying how the impact of our ministry is made stronger and more effective when all of us are actively engaged in those areas of ministry that align with our personal talents and passions.
I am personally very excited about the potential this plan has to reenergize our congregation around a shared sense of community, possibility, and identity in support of our mission. May God continue to lead us ever forward into God’s preferred future for us and for those we serve.
Grace and peace,
Pr. Randy Gehring
At this writing, several staff positions remain open at Our Savior’s:
• Faith Community Nurse – This position is part-time and is an integral part of our Spiritual Care team. Absent any additional applications, our plan is to fulfill some of the responsibilities of this position with volunteer service from nurses in the congregation.
• Youth Director – We are interviewing candidates for this full-time position and are hopeful that we will be making an announcement soon regarding filling this critical role on our faith formation team. Stay tuned!
• Pastor of Youth and Family – This full-time position will remain open until further analysis of our staffing structure and our financial condition and capacity is completed. In the meantime, we will continue to invite area pastors, especially female clergy, to serve as our guest preachers from time to time to ensure that a diversity of voices is offered from the pulpit.
Please hold in your prayers all of OSL’s staffing needs as well as those whom God may be preparing to join our ministry.