Is this for real? I just heard about it! What’s happening and when? Change … but I don’t like change! How will this impact my local church?
Have any of you heard any of the above statements … and how have you responded? Last April in my newsletter article, I talked about our new perspective as Bishop Lewis appointed eight District Superintendents for our sixteen districts; and tasked them to form eight new districts based on a contextual perspective. I also addressed the fact that we share many similarities between Alexandria and Arlington Districts … to include our wonderful and talented Bi-District staff … so our context and way forward would make sense to many of us.
So, where are we on this journey? Some of us have been hard at work on how exactly all of this will come about. Some of you have heard status reports or been made aware through various district committees as we organize for the ministries of our new district. And if you look at our New District page, you’ll find an outstanding compilation of our work thus far. Beginning with our new name (The Northern Virginia District), it traces the background of the District Initiative, the proposed Timeline, the overall Process, upcoming Information Sessions, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s).
About those Information Sessions – the first one is for local church lay leaders on Thur., April 28 (7 p.m./Zoom — see email invitation) and the second is for anyone on Wed., May 11 (7 p.m./Zoom — REGISTER) – both require pre-registration.
As you can imagine, this is a work in progress as our sub-teams continue their work. So, I would like to stress two things. First, under our FAQ’s, we’ll be addressing things as they surface, so don’t be upset if we haven’t addressed your question … maybe you should send your question to the sub-team. And second, this is our initiative based on our NoVa context, so if something doesn’t work, we can always pivot and make a change as needed. By the way, remember all that angst as we transitioned to Simple Church and/or Simplified Accountability Structure to better serve our local church ministries … change can be that opportunity “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
Blessings,
John Meeuwissen