In an effort to take an inward look and evaluate the congregation’s core vitals, Christ Church began the 7 Marks initiative on May 3, 2022, with Pastor Norman Pritchard preaching on each Mark through June 12. Five small groups called Vital Connections/Vital Conversations followed up with weekly discussions on each of the Marks. A total of 60 participants contributed to the discussions. The following are a list of outcomes from each mark and summarize what we, as a church, feel is a vital mark of our congregation.
Discipleship
Discipleship involves going deeper in our faith walk. It is an attempt to model our lives and behavior after Christ by living in a community of faith which is committed to teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer.
We need to spend more time in prayer, serious prayer where we seek the heart of God. We need to have more teaching, preaching, and small groups where prayer is prioritized along with encouraging people to share their walk of faith.
Evangelism
Evangelism, simply put, is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Admittedly, most people feel uncomfortable about sharing their faith. This is likely due to a lack of practice and even a lack of knowing what to say.
We need leadership training on how to share our faith in everyday life and we need to seek opportunities to make “connections” with family, friends, and neighbors.
Outward Incarnational Focus
This is a fancy way of saying, community outreach, missional focus, and following Christ’s command of meeting the needs of others. There are hundreds of homes around the church. We need to be in our community.
We need get to know our community and help them to get to know us. We also need to focus our marketing efforts on things that would draw people to us. And we need to keep our congregation informed about missional outreach.
Servant Leadership
Servant leadership is leading from the center, not top down. It is actively living out the “one another” principles taught in Scripture-loving one another, serving one another, praying for one another, preferring one another.
We need to continue to model what it means to be a servant church. Thankfully our founders set the foundation by not allowing plaques to recognize individuals or gifts. It is preferring others over self.
Spirit Inspired Worship
We want to continually pursue Christ centered sermons that are personally challenging with good Biblical teaching. And to continue expanding the worship format to be welcoming to all.
We need to always be welcoming. We need to focus our emphasis on Biblical preaching and use more hymns and occasional contemporary music that are uplifting and familiar to our congregation.
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Susan Scott
Administrative AssistantSusan Scott grew up in Virginia before moving to North Carolina where she lived for over 25 years. Her parents both graduated from Sarasota High School and her grandparents lived here as well. She knew the area well and moved to Florida summer of 2021. She has two adult daughters. She has a background in Finance and Accounting and is opening her own business too. She also has certifications in Personal Training and Nutrition. She enjoys walking, hiking, fitness, kayaking, cooking and traveling.
Caring Relationships
One of the strengths of Christ Church is relationships. Our Mission outreach is strong and an instrument of caring for others outside the church. Our Deacons, Prayer Chain, and Card Ministry are strong instruments for caring for those in the church.
We need to place emphasis on prayer that involves the entire congregation. We need to maintain our church events and ministries. And we need to connect with snowbirds and reach out to guests.
A Healthy Church
Our pursuit of being a healthy church is not about change, but rather about strengthening the church in ways that we can be faithful to what Christ is calling us to be.
We need to make sure our people know and embrace our mission statement of “Growing in Jesus’ name. We need to be intentional with evangelism to our surrounding communities.