Welcome to Port Perry United Church's Visioning Portal
Background and Beginnings
We began this process asking:
“What does it mean to be faithful as a people of God in our 21st-century context?”
“How can we refresh our faith?”
“What is our common mission?”
We also began this process during a pandemic.
Observations coming from within the pandemic:
• Our congregation can worship in different ways.
• The on-line services were watched by people outside our congregation.
• Our congregation gained a greater comfort level with technology (Zoom, on-line worship, on-line auctions).
• There are many talented musicians, visual artists, and dramatists in our congregation.
• There were many acts of caring:
• Pastoral Care (with Hospitality’s support) reaching out to our children on a monthly basis;
• Outreach’s coordination of assistance for those dealing with covid;
• Pastoral Care’s caller program drew many volunteers.
Observations coming out of the pandemic:
• A very dedicated Hospitality Committee figured out and then re-figured out how to offer safe gatherings on Sunday mornings.
• There is strong choral support. The choir is back in full force!
• The junior choir is what brought the children back on a consistent basis.
• 14 people have volunteered to read scripture.
• Despite a very small Community Outreach Committee, very strong support for the Souper Sundays project.
In summation, our congregation has a dedicated core of people. There are many strengths and interests in music and the other arts. We enjoy being a faith community together and being a part of the broader community.
Looking to the Future of Port Perry United Church
Over the course of this past year, the congregation has participated in a survey (98 respondents) and two Congregational Gatherings (85 participants) pertaining to how we experience church and to discuss what being the church might look like in the future. After considering the feedback received, the Visioning Reference Group proposes the following framework for a path forward.
Our Mission
Building on the mission statement created in 2018 (Together finding the abundant life, in worship and learning, caring and serving), we propose the following:
Christ-centred living together, in worship and learning, caring and serving.
Our Vision
Building on the Vision statement created in 2018 (Every person in our community, who seeks God, finds God), we propose the following:
To be an open, welcoming community, in which every person who seeks God, finds God.
Our Guiding Principles/Beliefs
As a member congregation within the United Church of Canada, we express our aspirational beliefs through the New Creed, which serves to help guide and focus our efforts, in particular the following phrase:
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
As a Christian community in the historic heart of Port Perry, we head into our future, balancing our rich past with the need to refresh, rejuvenate, and rejoice.
Three priorities have been identified as needing our attention. Our vision commits us to:
The Reference Group has assembled some recurring themes and possible actions for early consideration, set out in the following three charts.
We began this process asking:
“What does it mean to be faithful as a people of God in our 21st-century context?”
“How can we refresh our faith?”
“What is our common mission?”
We also began this process during a pandemic.
Observations coming from within the pandemic:
• Our congregation can worship in different ways.
• The on-line services were watched by people outside our congregation.
• Our congregation gained a greater comfort level with technology (Zoom, on-line worship, on-line auctions).
• There are many talented musicians, visual artists, and dramatists in our congregation.
• There were many acts of caring:
• Pastoral Care (with Hospitality’s support) reaching out to our children on a monthly basis;
• Outreach’s coordination of assistance for those dealing with covid;
• Pastoral Care’s caller program drew many volunteers.
Observations coming out of the pandemic:
• A very dedicated Hospitality Committee figured out and then re-figured out how to offer safe gatherings on Sunday mornings.
• There is strong choral support. The choir is back in full force!
• The junior choir is what brought the children back on a consistent basis.
• 14 people have volunteered to read scripture.
• Despite a very small Community Outreach Committee, very strong support for the Souper Sundays project.
In summation, our congregation has a dedicated core of people. There are many strengths and interests in music and the other arts. We enjoy being a faith community together and being a part of the broader community.
Looking to the Future of Port Perry United Church
Over the course of this past year, the congregation has participated in a survey (98 respondents) and two Congregational Gatherings (85 participants) pertaining to how we experience church and to discuss what being the church might look like in the future. After considering the feedback received, the Visioning Reference Group proposes the following framework for a path forward.
Our Mission
Building on the mission statement created in 2018 (Together finding the abundant life, in worship and learning, caring and serving), we propose the following:
Christ-centred living together, in worship and learning, caring and serving.
Our Vision
Building on the Vision statement created in 2018 (Every person in our community, who seeks God, finds God), we propose the following:
To be an open, welcoming community, in which every person who seeks God, finds God.
Our Guiding Principles/Beliefs
As a member congregation within the United Church of Canada, we express our aspirational beliefs through the New Creed, which serves to help guide and focus our efforts, in particular the following phrase:
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
As a Christian community in the historic heart of Port Perry, we head into our future, balancing our rich past with the need to refresh, rejuvenate, and rejoice.
Three priorities have been identified as needing our attention. Our vision commits us to:
- grow our culture of welcome;
- Q: What might we do to present ourselves as welcoming of people with diverse identifies, or people who might be perceived as different?
- nurture inclusive sharing of time, skills and abilities;
- Q: How might we discover and nurture talents, and provide opportunities for those to be shared in the work of the church?
- build connections and meaningful relationships.
- Q: How do we build community and connections within and between all ages and stages?
The Reference Group has assembled some recurring themes and possible actions for early consideration, set out in the following three charts.
