Alice Mann, in her book Can Our Church Live? Redeveloping Congregations in Decline, encourages all members of congregations to ask three key questions:

1. Who are we?
2. What are we here for?
3. Who is our neighbor?

These are some very good questions that congregational members across North America and the world should ask themselves at a time of mission renewal in our Synod. The world is different today; the culture of America is different today; and thus the means to accomplish the Great Commission may require different approaches from those utilized by LCMS congregations in the middle and early part of the 20th century.

The appropriate metaphor is the Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness. Man asserts that God’s people need to understand what she refers to as the deep learning that is required from the whole congregation. She tells us that the first stage of transformation will be unsettling, because it involves change. Congregations must wrestle with both the challenges and opportunities that this deep learning uncovers. She tells us that members soon discover that this state of flux is often where God helps them make creative and faithful changes.

Recently I have been learning about and profiling other LCMS churches across the United States with effective outreach ministries. I have done this to not merely understand the architecture of their programs, but to understand how they are responding to the challenges of the world around them and the needs of the communities around them with Scriptural-based mandates directed toward God’s people. I believe such an assessment has given Immanuel leadership a better understanding of how we can serve Him here at Immanuel. In fact, this is part of what I believe Alice Mann is talking about when she refers to deep learning. The other, actually most important, part of this deep learning process goes on at Immanuel weekly and is available to all members – various forms of organized Scriptural study.For there is little we can do in this world to truly serve Him without a proper understanding of His Word.

So how do the members of Immanuel, Glenview, fit into this picture? As we move further into 2006, I believe we are in the midst of an important journey--the journey that is intended to take us to becoming a “mission” church.

Church leadership believes the Open Arms ministry will be an effective ministry for Immanuel, Glenview, in 2006 and beyond and one that is consistent with the goals of the Ablaze! movement because:

• It will address the growing need for childcare among families in the Glenview area.
• It will create an outward focus for Immanuel, upon which other ministries can be built.
• The ministry can be sustained because the need for childcare will remain an important part of the fabric of American society, as women increasingly contribute to family household earnings through work outside the home.
• It will offer us the opportunity to reach segments of the community that we could otherwise not reach, especially those families with no recent connection to a Christian church. (We estimate that number at 15,000 households in our community!)
• It will create numerous opportunities to interact with, and serve families on a repetitive basis by providing care for all young children of the families we reach.
• It will allow members of the Immanuel community abundant opportunities to demonstrate meaningful Christian witness to the families we reach and the community at large.

When the Holy Spirit leads some of these families to become part of the Immanuel community, we will indeed welcome them with “open arms” and would encourage them to use their own gifts to serve Him as part of the Immanuel community.

Some very exciting opportunities lie ahead for all members of our congregation that wish to serve Him! Are the members of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Glenview ready to become part of the Ablaze! Movement? Over the last year, we have had a large number of congregational members step forward and offer their time and talent to serve Him, especially with respect to the Open Arms ministry initiative.

God has indeed blessed this congregation, especially when one considers the facility we presently have (even with the challenges presented by the constraints of the floodway), the financial resources we possess, and the mission field that surrounds us. Over the past year, leadership has learned about congregations that have successfully built outreach ministries that began with nothing but plans to purchase a parcel of land and a deep commitment to our faith. Surely, we are blessed with what God has provided us at Immanuel!