Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Dear Friends,
I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting this week. This Sunday marks the one year anniversary of my ministry here at University. I’m so thankful for all that God has done in and through our ministry together these last 365 days! Some of it has been hard, lots of it has been joyful and I pray that it all has, in some way, given glory to God.
One of the things I’ve reflected on this week are the precious hearts of the people who have come in and out of my office in this past year. It has been a sacred privilege to be a witness to some of the deep pains that shape the lives of God’s people. It is always a sacred joy to be an ambassador of God’s grace to people in times of stress, sadness and crisis. I absolutely love the work that I am called to do here at University!
As I look forward into year two at University, I’ve wondered what God might want from our Care and Community Ministry. I believe one thing that God might want for us is to be more intentional about addressing the needs of the human mind, heart and spirit. To that end, I have been working for several months with a group of lay people (doctors, therapists and counselors) on a mental health initiative. Quite simply, we are interested in understanding what mental health needs are present in our congregation because we want to create intentional and specific ministry to speak to those needs.
We need your help to do this. We are asking our adult members to help us by taking a totally anonymous survey that you can access at TheU.org/MHSurvey. You can also pick up a hard copy of the survey at any of the Welcome Desks. We will take the data from this survey and identify three or four top needs within our congregation. Then, we will use that information to create several ministry opportunities in 2018 to address the top needs that we discover.
I pray that you will take the time to help us in this endeavor. I also ask that you would be praying for the way that God can use University to be a healing balm to hurting people in our congregation and in our community. What if we became known in San Antonio as the place people could find hope, when all hope is lost?
I’m looking forward to the next 365 days with all of you. I pray you are looking forward to them as well.
God’s Peace,
Holly