2011-12 Proposed Purpose Statement

As Vox Veniae enters its 6th year of existence, the community has taken some time to both reflect on its past and prepare for its future. Our reflection has yielded a deep appreciation for the unique and, in many ways, unexpected place God has granted this very small community in the global Body of Christ. Our attempts at articulating our future seek to maintain a faithfulness to the unique calling God has developed for us in these past few years of growth.

Based on brainstorming and feedback during our Vision and Purpose Session on October 2, 2011, we developed a proposed purpose statement for our community this upcoming year (click here for meeting notes). If you have any feedback or questions, please email us by November 14.

The following provides a brief outline of the community’s vision for the coming year. Specifically, we see our mission shaped by the following three directives:

To Invite and Heal

We want to improve our ability to welcome and incorporate our neighbors. We envision Vox serving as a hospital for those burned by an unjust society and for those deadened by church itself. To fulfill this role we need to further develop communal space that can both welcome those in need and clearly offer the healing story of Christ. Sunday liturgy at Space12 has successfully fulfilled this role to date; however, the community has voiced concern that services are now over-crowded to the extent that our ability to invite and include those most in need of Christ is severely hindered. A proposed solution to this would be to add a second liturgy, perhaps at a different location. Other solutions may be possible as well. Regardless, the community envisions a renewed focus on creating more space for our neighbors at the weekly communion table.

To Teach and Form

As a logical progression from the previous directive to welcome, we envision a strengthening of Vox’s capacity to teach and form its members as lifelong students of Christ. This will be accomplished through a number of complimentary initiatives. Staff will transition into explicitly pastoral roles with duties centered on discipleship and spiritual care. Our newly founded Mid-week groups will provide a vehicle for community-based teaching, formation, and accountability. A ‘care-team’ of dedicated, trained community members will be formed to provide personal care for individuals and couples in need. Pastoral staff will continue to encourage and develop strong Christ-centered teaching from Scripture for Sunday Liturgy. Further community initiatives to provide teaching and/or spiritual care would be welcomed throughout the year.

To Share and Rebuild

Finally, as a culmination of the previous two directives and a major emphasis for the coming year, we envision Vox increasing its generosity with our city. To accomplish this in a responsible manner, we envision separating our missions budget from our operations budget. The operations budget will remain lean and attainable given conservative estimates of congregational giving. The missions budget will be ambitious — with a goal of increasing from 10% of total giving to 30% within the next five years. The community will be regularly updated on current Vox projects and new member-driven mission initiatives will be repeatedly encouraged. Specifically, we hope to allocate some missions funding for member initiatives that use Space12 to connect to the local neighborhood — youth, immigrant, or arts-focused programs are some examples of initiatives the community has expressed interest in funding.  Overall, we believe this new financial structure will allow us to encourage and prayerfully anticipate significant missions funding while also avoiding unnecessary financial risk to the community as it currently stands.

The story of Vox so far is a testament to our unusual, unrelenting God — he redeems a broken world using a broken people. We have accomplished little of what we set out to do, yet he has accomplished much in our midst.  As we seek to develop the next chapter of the story, we pray his strange grace will persist.

— The Navigation Team

[Photo by new legs @ Flickr]