Dear Friends,

Let me share with you how this vision for Westminster Presbyterian Church came into being. After arriving to Westminster in February 1998 I met that spring in over a dozen homes for neighborhood coffee/desserts with church members. I listened as our members spoke enthusiastically about their hopes and dreams for our congregation.

Later that fall, we were given a wonderful gift. A church couple offered to make a contribution to Westminster to enable us to retain a facilitator to lead us through a planning process that would respond to members’ concerns as we enter the next century. Our choice for a facilitator was Mr. John Bird, a well-known consultant. At its March 1999 meeting, the Session voted to conduct a congregational planning process, to retain Mr. Bird and to appoint a Vision Planning Task Force.

In May of 1999 the process began. We started with a congregational mail-survey asking for members’ evaluations of Westminster’s future direction. In June, Mr. Bird interviewed staff and led four focus groups of church members to probe more deeply about our future. These written and verbal surveys revealed vitality and commitment to our church’s mission and ministry and provided important information for the next step of the planning process – a fall retreat.

The overnight retreat was held at Stella Niagara Conference Center on September 24 and 25, 1999. Thirty-seven elders, deacons, staff and other leaders attended the session. Mr. Bird led us through a four-step process that generated the vision and goals included in this report. Our charge was to identify Westminster’s core purpose and values. This core identity is "the glue that holds an organization together," "the things that should never change about our church," "something we ‘discover’ rather than ‘invent’ as we reflect on our life together," "our raison d’être." Our next task was to generate specific long-term goals for our church. Goals that would take ten to fifteen years to achieve and would have a 50-70% chance of succeeding but that would be big, bold and daring. With these long-term goals envisioned we then established five priority areas for our present ministry to get to where we want to go.

This document has been presented to the original retreat participants and program staff for review and discussion. It was approved by the Session and Deacons at a joint meeting of the boards on January 25, 2000 and presented to and endorsed by the congregation at the annual meeting on February 27, 2000. The last section "short-term priorities and strategies" will be formatted in a strategic plan that will serve as a working document for Westminster for the next three years. I commend our vision to you for your prayers and support.

Mission

Jesus’ answer to the lawyer’s question, Which is the greatest commandment? best describes Westminster’s mission: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Westminster is people in relationship with God and one another serving the community. At the center of this relationship is praise and thanksgiving for the Creator. In our worship life we discern God’s call to love and justice. As we seek to witness to this calling we grow as disciples with one another and find ourselves in solidarity with the poor, the lonely, the sick and suffering, and the outcast. Just as Jesus’ followers asked him questions so we prize inquiry into our faith which deepens our understanding and grounds our action.

Values

Worship. As the psalmist proclaimed, How majestic is thy name in all the earth, O Lord, we too, in response to God’s glory and goodness praise the Creator and Sustainer of life. Such praise and adoration calls forth the best we have to offer God in worship and music. As stewards of an historic urban sanctuary and prophetic pulpit we feel that great cloud of witnesses about us as we give expression to Christ’s radical love in our time.

Community. When Jesus opened his arms and said to his disciples, Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, his invitation was extended to all God’s children. Because we embrace a God who embraces all people we seek in our common life to embrace all God’s children. Our doors are opend all drawn to the Creator of life regardless of what makes us different one from another. With compassion and respect we reach out to one another, delight in human diversity and remain open to the creativity and power of the Spirit that gives us life.

Outreach. The prophet Isaiah envisioned a day when The wolf and the lamb shall lie down together and the lion eat straw like the ox. So we live and work and pray for a day of justice and reconciliation, a day of peace and healing. Just as Isaiah was called to proclaim good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and the year of the Lord’s favor so we proclaim God’s justice and love against the forces of death and darkness in our time. Like Amos we would let justice roll down like mighty waters – sweeping away prejudice and oppression in all its forms, cleansing the human community of its sin.

Care and Nurture. When Jesus healed men and women and children he said to them, Your faith has made you well. So in our church family and in our life together in Christ we find healing and wholeness. Our faith makes us well in mind and body and spirit – as Christ’s Spirit ministers through us to one another: binding up the broken-hearted and comforting the sick and lonely and the grieving and sorrowful. Together, we celebrate the gift of life, not only as we serve but as we take time to rest and reflect and play together.

Long-term Vision

The God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Rachel is the God of history – Sovereign of past, present and future. God’s purposes are worked out in human history from beginning to end through God’s people. This trust in the purpose and direction of human life in partnership with the Creator was boldly stated long ago by a follower of Jesus who said, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth…and I heard a loud voice saying, ‘I am making all things new.’"

As Westminster Presbyterian Church looks to its future, we discern God’s Spirit renewing us as a faith community. We sense the Spirit enabling us to continue venerable programs and to see new possibilities for mission and ministry. As we reflect upon God’s call and envision our congregation ten-to-fifteen years from now we see renewal of purpose and growth in numbers and depth of spirit.

Membership. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. Westminster Presbyterian Church will double its membership over the next ten-to-fifteen years. The Westminster Sunday experience of worship, music and the arts, education, fellowship and faith exploration will be a destination. Most members will continue to come from the city, but many will also come from the northern and southern suburbs and towns. Ten percent of the members will come from the immediate neighborhood of the church. Many of these new members will have had some church experience but for various reasons, prior to coming to Westminster, they will be unchurched. The average age of the congregation will be 35-to-40 years. The membership will be socially, ethnically, and racially diverse – reflecting more accurately the total population of western New York.

Worship. Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving, God’s courts with praise. Spiritual renewal and synergy will distinguish Sunday morning. People will come to participate in an expansive Sunday morning offering of worship, education, and fellowship. Westminster will need two traditional worship services in the main sanctuary each Sunday, an early service celebrating the Lord's Supper in the Chapel and an informal mid-week or Saturday worship service in Parish Hall. Weekly worship attendance will increase from a third of the membership to a half to three-quarters of church members each week.

Stewardship. Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things…for to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance. More members will be more active in the total life of the church giving time and talent to perform the ministry of the congregation. Westminster will support all of its programs with gifts from living members and use invested income for mission and outreach ministries. A transformed culture of stewardship will be evident in robust annual giving and tithing based upon a view of ourselves as stewards of all that we have, of our community and of the earth. A planned giving and bequest emphasis will triple the size of the present endowment.

Care and Nurture. I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me something to drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you gave me clothing, sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me. The care and nurture of Westminster members as well as the "least of these" in our community will be a coordinated strategy involving specific programs as well as pastoral and lay teams.

An Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care and Spiritual Growth will oversee the Stephen Ministry, the Parish Neighborhood Network, and programs of spiritual renewal for members, friends and strangers in need. Membership at Westminster will be defined as engagement with the life of the congregation and will lead to members discerning their vocation as Christians within the life of the church and the world. A spiritual formation institute will equip members in the basics of practicing faith and discipleship. Program opportunities, including small groups for men and women, for couples, for parents, for seniors and for singles, will be offered throughout the year.

Children and Youth. Let the children come unto me, Jesus said. Give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you, said the Lord, so that you may live and…make them known to your children and your children’s children. Westminster’s historic commitment to children will flourish. We will teach and inspire leaders for the next century by introducing children and youth to the inward journey of faith and the outward journey of service, building upon our strong foundation of outreach and mission. Stewardship of life will be a core value in all of our youth ministries. We will find ways to support the educational opportunities for minority and disadvantaged children through our tutoring program and through a generous scholarship program for WECP.

Community Conscience/Mission. Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an every-flowing stream. Westminster will continue to be a voice for social justice and quality of life in the city. We will use our pulpit and position in the community to raise issues facing the city and region. We will host dialogues and forums on controversial topics – seeking to build bridges of understanding and action for our community. We will expand our presence on Ferguson Avenue and teach other congregations how to adopt-a-block so that thirty blocks will be partnered with congregations. We will sponsor an adult day care program, take real and practical steps to alleviate hunger, and low-cost housing opportunities in the city. We will continue to use the church campus as a means of outreach. We will send thirty adults each year to a site of national or global mission to participate in the work of the larger church and be a sign of the Kingdom by sharing from our abundance with those in need wherever they may be.

The Building. In the reign of Josiah…they delivered money to the workers who had oversight of the house of the Lord, for repairing and restoring the house…carpenters and builders to buy quarried stone, and timbers for binders and beams for the buildings. The Westminster campus, including gardens, playground areas, meeting areas for worship, teaching, and conducting business and retreats, is a treasured resource of our congregation and community. Its historic value, esthetic beauty and desirability for groups small and large is a significant means of outreach and mission. Appropriate to the needs and resources of the growth envisioned, the church facility will be improved for ease of access and efficiency of gathering, communications, and programming.

Short-term Priorities and Strategies

In order to respond to God’s call to us, the work of the Spirit among us, and to achieve the long-term goals we envision for mission and ministry the following short-term priorities are of paramount importance.

An increased emphasis on stewardship will result in a more active congregation supporting a more expansive ministry reaching out to more people

• Define stewardship as the giving of time and talent as well as treasure
• Encourage giving/tithing through a year-round emphasis on stewardship
• Increase the number of donors and the average annual gift
• Develop a year-round strategy for mission interpretation
• Start a bequest/planned giving program
• Track and report all financial activity using a new data-base
• Establish a part-time position for development that will:
  • Present a five year business plan for increasing endowment
  • Communicate the program to members
  • Cultivate and solicit gifts
  • Recognize and honor donors

Membership at Westminster will grow significantly and reflect the population of Western New York

• Develop and implement a marketing plan for the entire congregation
• Create a simple, true-to-our-vision "marketing image"
• Establish a website
• Identify target groups
• Design advertising strategies

Develop strategies for membership growth that will include:

• Face-to-face meetings with visitors on Sundays
• Dinners with the pastor
• Outreach to specific groups through advertising and programming (e.g. College-aged, singles of all ages, parents)
• Convert membership recording and reporting to a new data-base

Pastoral Care and Spiritual Growth at Westminster will equip more church members to live their faith more fully

• Establish spiritual life committee to oversee opportunities for faith development
• Establish men’s studies program
• Establish parish associate position that will:
  • Oversee spiritual discernment groups
  • Suggest new spiritual growth activities to the spiritual life committee
  • Call an Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care and Faith Development who will:
  • Establish a Stephen Ministry
  • Oversee and enlarge the present parish neighborhood program
  • Oversee and coordinate all pastoral care