The Fox Valley Seventh-day Adventist church celebrated a Church Family Conversation program on Sabbath, February 2, talking about the strategic direction we wanted to take over the next three years. The service started with an appetizing church-wide Prayer Breakfast, including individual and corporate prayers along with praise songs. This was followed by a church wide adult Sabbath School class in a part of our church rarely used, with the hope that this new perspective would give us a heart for church growth. The main service included a short homily delivered by Pastor Carlos Ancheta on the growth of the early church in the book of Acts, but more emphasis was placed on a candid dialogue facilitated by the elders with church members on how we can embrace our vision forward in grace filled, compassionate and practical acts of being God’s hands and feet in the Fox Valley. The service ended in a church potluck where the members continued the discussions over a delicious meal.

The service was a culmination of church planning sessions led by the elders of the church on the direction that our church should take over the next three years. Meetings had been held by the elders in the months prior to prayerfully create a new Vision Statement for the church, creating five strategic goals to work towards and working on a new social media platform which includes updating our webpage to reach out in new ways through the internet. These advances were presented to the Church Board for approval. Once the Church Board approved the plan, the Pastor and elders presented the work to the church for their consideration. The church members were asked over a ten-day period prior to this service to pray for God’s guidance and joyful conviction to help accomplish the plan.

Chris Smoot, Fox Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church Head Elder