Rev. Melissa St. Claire, Ruth Meyers, Lilly Scholars

Stacy Poncelow, Congregational Representative

Congregational Project: To understand why we worship, and to enliven existing forms of worship while exploring new forms.

Heart of the Rockie's current strategic plan--developed in 2015 to guide us through 2020-2025--we developed five mission priorities. One of those priorities is exploring worship in alternate forms--which is to say, beyond our Sunday morning format. We've begun this important work by asking ourselves how we can expand our vision of worship, including (but not limited to) how, when, and where we worship by getting to the heart of why we worship.

Our focus is two-fold:

• We're currently experimenting with our Sunday morning to strengthen its relevancy and meaningfulness in a one-service (vs. two-service) format.
• We intent to launch a new service--beyond Sunday morning--in early spring 2019

Heart of the Rockies Christian Church's mission is: Loving God. Serving Others. Changing Lives. We're able to live in to this mission most fully when we're willing to challenge ourselves to listen for what God is calling us to next in all facets of our life of faith--including our worship. So often, worship becomes a "sacred cow" in the life of a congregation. Even in 2018, our 25th anniversary year, we've sought to retain our "new church" spirit by consistently asking ourselves the questions: "What does God have for us next?" We draw our inspiration from the prophet Isaiah, "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (43: 19)

Throughout our history, we've sought out congregational best practices--through working with consultants, participating in peer learning communities, and utilizing denominational resources to ensure we're aligning ourselves with both the Holy Spirit and tapping into the latest research and wisdom available.