Never an Original Thought

On Sunday, September 1, 2024, we retired our logo of a tree and our mission statement: "Rooted in Grace. Growing in Christ. Reaching out in Love." The logo and mission statement have been good to us. For the past several years, they have helped us focus on what's important. We are now ready for a new chapter in the life of our congregation. That said, we didn't want to "retire the tree" without giving thanks for what came before. As a result, we planted a tree and dedicate

Kathleen Wheeler continues her explanation of the Road Ahead initiative. This time, we consider the congregation's "core values." “The Road Ahead!” Last month , we wrote about what “The Road Ahead,” was all about: the future of our church, and an outline of what we want to achieve and how to get there. So now it’s time to answer another question: how are we deciding what gets our attention in the future? Great question! There are a million things we could have decided to foc

All the surveys, focus groups, demographic reports, retreats, bible study, and prayer were for one purpose: How do we become the best First Presbyterian Church possible? Along the way, we discovered that God didn’t want us to become the church down the street. God didn’t want to turn our backs on almost two centuries of discipleship and ministry in Norwalk, Ohio. We need to live into our giftedness. When David faced a giant, the king gave the shepherd boy his armor and s

As the First Presbyterian Church of Norwalk, Ohio, launched the Road Ahead initiative, Kathleen Wheeler shared the following explanation. “The Road Ahead!” We’ve all heard this catchy phrase flying around the church lately, but what are we talking about? Is it the name of our newest small group, a map to get to the church, maybe a new ice cream flavor? Is it a catchy book about future technology written in 1995 by Bill Gates (well, yes, yes, it actually is)?! No, that’s not

During the month of February, the First Presbyterian Church of Norwalk will be holding focus groups to discern better where God wants us to go. Please pray for the process and our congregation. In the meantime, I thought it might be nice to hear from some of our congregational partners. This is a message from Rev. Sara Hodsden, who serves at the Huron Presbyterian Church. They are also “at the crossroads,” and I appreciated her faithful words. “But blessed is the one who

State of the Church 2023: At the Crossroads “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11 Back in college, I knew a guy named Tom. He was a good guy, a little quirky, but a nice guy. Every time you asked him how he was doing, he would respond, “I’m at the crossroads.” The words themselves weren’t arresting. It was how he said them. He spoke as if he was pondering the

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11 The 2003 book Moneyball by Michael Lewis, and the subsequent movie starring Brad Pitt, tells the true story of how the Oakland Athletics built a successful baseball team on the cheap. How did they do it? They changed their focus. They discovered that a player’s ability to get on base predicted how many runs he would score b

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11 It started with a conversation. The pastor of Maumee Presbyterian Church, Clint Tolbert, reached out to me with an opportunity for our congregation here in Norwalk. In the months prior, I had gotten to know Clint. I appreciate his faith and his perspective. I am glad to call him a colleague in ministry. He told me about th