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My task this morning is to pick up where Jim left off last Sunday. For the benefit of visitors, Jim Todhunter, our senior minister, is retiring at the end of next summer. We are in the midst of taking in this new reality. The entire congregation is engaged in a strategic planning process which seeks to surface goals and direction for the rapidly approaching near future. The not yet formed Search Committee needs to know what to tell prospective candidates about our church, who we are, who we want to be, and what we are looking for, needing in our interim pastorate period. You and I, mostly you, are the ones responsible for providing that insight.

It hasn’t been all that long ago that CCC completed a self study – 1996. This information resulted in a shift of staffing patterns not to mention ushering in life in our newly renovated building. It hasn’t been all that long ago that CCC completed a church profile, a lengthy document that explains facets of the congregation to candidates exploring an open minister position. I read the CCC Profile with great interest and excitement. The tidbit that I remember most? Membership was 666. I thought to myself, they might want to recruit or make up another member soon. (666 is the number in Revelation that is frequently interpreted to symbolize the anti-christ)

So, some say, why do we need to do more strategic planning? My response has at least two points. 1) I don’t think we have a strategic plan. We have information about ourselves but we do not have consensus on our priorities or the nuts and bolts of what our call to be a progressive Christian justice making community means; - Not to mention how to get there. 2) Times change quickly. We are not the same congregation that we were three years ago. There are two familiar faces out of five full time staff from just three years ago. Jim and Susan Gray. And Susan’s job description is not the same. There, of course, have been other staff transitions which have altered how we might describe ourselves. I am thinking specifically of our older adult programs. CCC is part of a changing urban community and world. We don’t stand still, nor do we want to.

A workshop I attended a number of years ago posited that long range planning was out or at least it was relative. Organizations needed to make plans with the understanding that plans may need to change every so many years.

Last Sunday, Jim offered the image of boats on a journey as a metaphor for this present time. He settled on a canoe because that is a boat and a journey I talk about frequently. It was his way of handing the baton to me. No, not to step into his shoes, god forbid, or his role. It’s my job to help pastor you through this new time because I’m not stepping out of the boat. I am going with you. We are companions on the journey.

The Exodus was a dominant metaphor that informed CCC’s time at Marvin Memorial while this building underwent 14 months of renovation. Most folk are familiar with the Hebrew stories of wandering in the wilderness. I imagine people took turns being Moses the reluctant and unappreciated leader and being one of those many feisty whiners.

Today I offer you a similar yet different metaphor. We are on a canoe trip. It is not explicitly mentioned in our Bible but it is very scriptural. Boats and journeys make up a good chunk of our faith story. Journeys to be sure, and boats sometimes, comprise many of your points of experiential learning. I think we can run with this. Or paddle, as the case may be.

Think of CCC, you and I and all the others not here, as getting ready for a great adventure. We will not share one canoe; the Ark was overcrowded and smelled. We will travel together as a flotilla perhaps. Some of us have camping experience, some of us do not. Some of us enjoy being duffers (the idle person in the middle); others like the repetition of the power stroke in the bow (the “motor” position); and others enjoy their turn in the stern, steering the craft to and fro. All of these roles have their positive and negative natures.

We are not on the water constantly. We stop for a shore lunch. We stop to make camp for a night or a number of nights. We stop because a storm is brewing quickly. We curse at the mosquitoes; we revel in the joy of doing something well together. You get my point.

Before we get too far along in the journey, it’s a good idea to make a plan. Actually, trip planning can take as much or more time as the actual trip! And I hesitate to mention it, trip planning can be more fun than the actual trip.

Trip planning is one way to think about an important dimension of being the church. Jesus calls to us and says, Follow me. Jesus has a plan, both a journey and a destination.

Our worship experience is going to move into smaller groups throughout the church. You are charged with responding to four questions printed in the bulletin. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice what we preach. Being Christian and attending Sunday worship services are not spectator activities. Worship is being engaged with God, open and opened to God’s leading.

Amen

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