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There are 25 area Christian churches listed on shopmidland.com. Four of them are in Penetanguishene. None of them are exactly the same.

The reality that churches can all claim belief in the same God, revealed in Jesus, and yet all look quite different can be both frustrating and freeing. It can be frustrating when we disagree . . . sometimes on very significant issues. It can be freeing when we realize that God's work is not limited by how I think it should be done or by how much I do get done.

One of the most freeing things about the diversity of churches is the ability to acknowledge who we are and what our focus is.Our uniqueness means that not everyone will feel like they fit at Covenant. Glenn Robitaille, who founded Covenant alongside several others, has said, "We are a church where everyone is welcome, but we aren't the church for everyone." Our goal, as a church and as individuals, should be to become the best version of who God is calling us to be. We aren't here to try to be First Presbyterian or St. James Anglican or St. Anns Roman Catholic. We gain nothing, and our community gains nothing, by us trying to be River of Life Pentecostal, Midland Alliance, The Salvation Army, or Calvary Baptist. Our stories are different. Our theologies are different. Our values are different. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His local churches are not. Thank God!

We've recently been engaging in some conversations about how we can be the best version of what God is calling us to be as a church.  The board and some other leaders engaged in some prayerful conversation about what God is calling us to emphasize at this phase of our church life. That conversation came forward into a Coffee & Conversation meeting held a couple of weeks ago. In those meetings, we discussed three strategic initiatives. The unity around them was overwhelming and beautiful. The board heard that unity and last Tuesday, May 15, they unanimously approved the following points of emphasis for Covenant as we move through the next five years.

  1. We will be a community church for our community. -We believe that the hope of Jesus is hope for the entire world and are committed to growing as Jesus followers and intentionally engaging our community with a posture of listening, service, and invitation.
  2. We will be a church committed to next generations. -We believe that the greatest need and the greatest opportunity for long-term impact is to invest in younger generations - children, youth, and young adults - and that this investment will open many doors through which we can serve our broader community.
  3. We will steward our building and property in ways that welcome and serve our community broadly and next generation specifically. -We believe that a facility does not save people, but that by investing in our facility and property in ways that reflect initiatives #1 and #2, our space can be an amazing tool to demonstrate and share the love of Jesus - who does save people.

There is so much more about these strategic initiatives. These do not replace Jesus as the centre of our community. They don't replace our values as a church. They don't replace our affirmation of faith. They are a statement about how we believe God is calling us to live out the way of Jesus together within our community over the next few years. We believe that these will help us be the best version of what God is calling us to be. And we believe that in emphasizing these things, we will be able to help many of you grow towards the best version of who God is calling you to be as you follow Jesus.

I'm excited for us to share on this journey together.

P.S. I'm really excited about one really big announcement which we'll make on Sunday related to these strategic initiatives! I hope you'll be there.