Three years from now, what stories will we be telling?
At this year’s Midwest Conference Annual Ministry Celebration (AMC), held in April at Centennial Covenant Church in Colorado, we took time to listen for the Holy Spirit’s answer.
As part of our shared MWC ministry focus – Communities of Jesus: Transformed, Connected, and Multiplying – participants were invited to listen for the Holy Spirit and respond to the question:
Three years from now, what stories do you hope we’re telling at AMC about how we’ve been transformed, connected, and multiplying?
The response was remarkable.
Prayer boards filled with hopes, dreams, and Spirit-prompted visions for our churches and Conference. Participants longed to see lives renewed through prayer and discipleship, churches marked by humility and grace, and communities transformed by the love of Christ. Many dreamed of children, youth, and young adults flourishing as active participants and leaders in God’s mission.
Again and again, people expressed a desire for deeper connection – churches partnering together, pastors and leaders encouraging one another, relationships crossing cultural and generational lines, and congregations becoming more deeply engaged in their communities.
And when it came to multiplication, the dreams were impossible to miss: more disciples, more leaders, more church plants, more fresh expressions of church, and more people discovering the hope of Jesus. Participants envisioned new faith communities and a new generation carrying the mission forward.
What was most striking wasn’t the diversity of ideas. It was the unity behind them.
Across the room, the Spirit seemed to be stirring a common longing: that the Midwest Conference would continue becoming a people deeply rooted in Christ, deeply connected to one another, and deeply committed to joining God’s mission in the world.
Those prayer boards were more than sticky notes. They were declarations of hope.
We’ve compiled the responses and invite you to spend time praying through them: access here. What resonates with your context? What is the Spirit stirring in your church?
And as God continues to work among us, we’d love to hear your stories. Where are you seeing transformation, connection, or multiplication? What prayers are becoming reality?
Because the stories we’ll tell three years from now aren’t waiting in the future. They’re being written right now.
Our Postcards from the Midwest Conference are short and encouraging looks at what God is doing in churches across the Midwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church – Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, western Missouri, Nebraska and Wyoming. We’re celebrating faithfulness, fresh vision, and the beauty of ministry in all shapes and sizes.
