Letter from the Pastor – September 2025

Dear Church,

It is good to remember that we have all been given gifts from God. This is true of each of us as individuals, but also as a congregation. Unfortunately, the demands of the world and the seemingly constant need to meet them can leave us too often feeling as if our best isn’t good enough. We can then lose sight of the gifts we do have and what we are able to share with the world.

Churches face this dilemma as well. The pressure to keep the lights on in the building and to get more people in the pews can put too much of a focus on what seems to be lacking. This obscures the fact -the reality- that no matter what a church’s circumstances, God has given that community of faith an abundance of gifts to use for ministry and share with the world.

All this is the theme of the book Neighborhood Church by Krin Van Tatenhove and Rob Mueller. Recently, Central Woodward’s Elders used this book for a study. One of the ideas put forward by this book is asset mapping. As described in the book, “asset mapping helps us recognize the strengths and gifts we have as a congregation and how to leverage them for growth and outreach.” (p. 123) Asset mapping is a good way to reflect on the gifts God has given us, as individuals and as a community of faith. So, as a response and in the spirit of this book study, I will be preaching a sermon series in the month of October on the theme of “Harvesting God’s Gifts.”

However, I need your help in preparing. So, during the month of September we will be going through the process of asset mapping together. Each week at worship, you will be given the opportunity to consider what gifts we have been given as a congregation to do God’s work in the world. Each week in September there will be a moment to focus on a different category of asset. These categories include: The Church’s Physical Assets (building, grounds, equipment, etc.), Individual assets/personal gifts (knowledge, skills, issues you care about, etc.), and associations and/or institutions in the wider community (volunteer groups, non-profits, schools, etc.) All of these categories make up the assets and gifts that we have at our disposal to do the work of sharing God’s love with others. If you are unable to be at church to fill out one of these forms, we will also send out a link to fill out the form online.

The responses to this month-long asset mapping workshop will help inform the sermon series for October. And after that, hopefully, inspire us in finding new ways to be a missional church using the gifts we have been given, the God-given assets we possess, right here and right now.

Peace on the journey,

Pastor Zach