dreams.

What follows are both the dreams and underlying goals that are emerging within Case Mountain Community Church (CMCC). The section Possibilities of Engagement provides tangibles within the vision to help understand the direction pragmatically. The Immediate Goals section has goals we would like to accomplish within the next year. We try to be cognizant of the Lord’s leading and take responsibility where they move astray. And the Nascent Goals section represents those tasks which the Lord is starting to articulate, but may be afar off, and others that are on the edge of being birthed as Immediate Goals. This process is one that is reviewed with great frequency and is one of the ways God chooses to move CMCC beyond itself and its limitations.

Developing Groups and Spaces that Deepen Relationships, allow for Free Speech, and Cultivate Worship

To worship and create “real” opportunities for people to risk in their faith is complex. We want to establish safe spaces where people can express themselves without judgment, condemnation, shame, or guilt. It is Case Mountain Community’s intention to listen people to free speech, love people unconditionally, and help when needed. God often offers healing in our lives through community gatherings and relationships. We are challenged to dissolve untruths about others and God and perhaps see Christ for the first time in these settings. These are also the spaces that allow us to collectively worship the Lord of all. As we honor and love Christ, love for others is given room to move or grow.

Possibilities of Engagement

· This includes our Sunday Community Gathering, mid-week community gatherings, and various small gatherings based on interest, accountability, etc.

· Technology related to extending language and relationships

Immediate Goals

· Develop technologies that facilitate gatherings and extend them virtually. Includes audio/visual, pod casting, etc.

· Transition to role-based and area-based web page

· Ministry portal for calendaring and serving, phone listings, training materials, etc.

· Establishing children’s ministry

Nascent Goals

· Campus to meet current and emerging needs, including sports and fitness spaces

· Camp ground and retreat center

Developing Good Kingdom Citizens

There are many facets to being a disciple of Christ, and to be a follower of Jesus puts you within a new realm of possibilities, freedom, responsibility, and emotional/financial/temporal economies. In this sense, we desire to help people mature in their faith, as well as their personhood. This means creating opportunities for people to grow in areas of God and self. As the community unites in experiencing dimensions of life together, it becomes a family in Christ. This dream looks at the components of self-discovery and personal growth, and it develops the leadership instincts and goals that allow for as egalitarian an experience as possible, to love others with limited bureaucracy.

The family helps others understand more of God in their lives as well as discovering their place in our community. A healthy Kingdom citizen is harmonizing the various roles she participates in and understands the vocation, calling, family, and career implications God has for her.

This dream also includes conferences that allow for growing in spirit, mind, and body.

It looks for ways to help create a culture of service and leaders based on biblical principles such as the priesthood of believers. Everyone is a leader in the destiny God has for him. In many respects, the student becomes the teacher. This dream cultivates skills of empathy, ownership, spiritual and temporal awareness, helping others to fit within God’s bigger picture, personal authority, emotional discipline, etc. It asks, “Who is our neighbor?” and provides experiences and skills to love him and to influence and cultivate closeness to God.

As we look at all of the avenues to becoming good Kingdom Citizens, this helps to shape the unconditional characteristics Jesus has established for his church. These characteristics of love, salvation, grace, etc. transform the church from simply being a group of people to ones who know their place in God’s story and want to help others find theirs too. The end goes well-beyond self-help to revealing God’s Kingdom creatively and personally.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Developing relationships with others through our gatherings – gearing gathering experiences to value others and open healthy discussion and pondering

· Conferences for theological discussions and practical living

· Drawing near to Christ and one another through experiences such as small groups, field trips, etc. to bring about self-awareness, change, and growth in mind, body, and soul

· Foundations of the Ministry Team; a group of people who love Christ so much that they serve to direct formal and informal ministries. At CMCC we recognize that there is risk and learning at all levels, so we often refers to ministries as “practices.” The Servant Team cultivates the Ministry Team through concepts of servant leadership and missional church development

Immediate Goals

· Development of Ministry Team foundations

· Topical studies such as Experiencing God and Tabernacle Study

· Fight Club – a safe place where differing theological ideas and the tough issues of life are discussed, debated, and loved through. In many cases the issues aroused in the Now component of CMCC’s Story provide starting points

· Gifting, vocation, and calling assessments in conjunction to self-leadership training and mentoring

Nascent Goals

· Mentoring

· Life, health, time help

· Regional conferences

· National conference

Opportunities to Work through Life’s Difficulties

Sometimes we face adversity and difficulties that are beyond what we can bear. This dream provides avenues for people to grow in those areas of God and self that hold them back from experiencing freedom fully. It meets material needs for those who are experiencing difficult times of crisis, but more importantly it provides paths and opportunities for them to become vibrant Kingdom citizens. Our hope is that those experiencing difficulties move from victim to servant and healing agent for others.

This life together has informal aspects such as working together to help someone in need, and in the process, growing closer to God. It has formal aspects such as classes on finances, prayer, family life, and life skills. Counseling and recovery groups provide a means for healing by providing insights, prayer, tools, and accountability.

Benevolence takes on transformative elements in this dream. For those with difficulty in being good stewards, opportunities abound to become people of fiscal integrity. For those who are in a place where meeting every day needs is difficult, help in finding financial resources as well as material resources are made available. As the community expands, local experts emerge to help with home-related and automobile problems for those unable to afford professional services.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Recovery programs, targeted mentoring and accountability, benevolence leading to good stewardship

Immediate Goals

· Prayer intentionally available within gatherings

· Develop a prayer culture where prayer is intuitive in one-on-one interactions

Nascent Goals

· Recovery Practice

· Fundraising Practice

· Family counseling

· Individual counseling

· Targeted accountability groups

· Divorce recovery

· Art therapy

· Stewardship programs and accountability tied to perpetual benevolence

· Matching skilled labor with those who need material help such as home and auto repair

· Day care and elder care

· Habitat for Humanity and other community-need activities

· Shelters and meeting lesser known needs such as diapers, personal hygiene, boy’s clothes, shoes, etc.

· Health and emergency service partnerships for community engagement

Developing Deep Roots in the Community

The Case Mountain community is engaged as the church seeks new ways to interact with the local community. As creativity is one of our values, we desire to make these interactions with the community new, fun, and enjoyable.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Fun events that are non-threatening to those unfamiliar with Christ

· Connecting with established community activities or events that have deep roots and meaning for those who live in the area

Immediate Goals

· Manchester Road Race

· BBQs

· Poker nights

· Fire nights

· Walks and hikes

Nascent Goals

· Manchester Cruise Night

· Yearly event that draws people to CMCC through story telling, art, dramatics, film, etc.

Intentionally Engaging Culture

As the Psalmist says, “The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” In this dream we look for ways of blurring the permeable lines between sacred and secular; those things designated as inherently holy or godly versus those things that are outside of God. As we see God working in all of creation, we get a deeper sense of worship and appreciation.

Culture establishes or provides context for relevance and we look to engage culture in order to transform lives. By God’s power, might, and authority, we work to see this world transformed, restored, and healed. This looks at culture from a lens that risks “contamination” to be where people live. We cannot comprehend truth without understanding our part in the story. This dream looks at how God is using culture, the arts, and related disciplines and expressions to speak His purposes and love for all of humanity into His story.

This dream is broad and includes exploring creative partnerships with individuals as well as private and public institutions to express God’s Kingdom in meaningful ways that foster worship and/or meet human needs. It looks for avenues to shape the church by God’s working in culture, but equally as important it is attentive to seeking Christ’s commentary and influence on culture.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Blurring of secular and sacred to foster worship and/or meet needs. Initiating ancient and new forms and/or expressions of praise and worship that adore the Lord and touch the story found in this culture

· Establishing new venues or culture, providing helpful ways to commentate and illuminate culture in light of Jesus

Immediate Goals

· Movie reviews

· Book reviews

Nascent Goals

· Groups that look at philosophical works and ask what God is doing through them

· Gallery

· School of the Arts and Languages – including art appreciation, music, studios, language study, etc.

· Develop partnership with Manchester Community College, University of Connecticut, and Eastern Connecticut State University

· Manchester Community College’s An Evening of Fine Wines

· Home school center – spaces and resources for advanced education, health, science, technology

Engaging the Global Church

The Church, as God destined, is made of multitudes of people all around the world; we desire to participate with God in his good intentions for this world and his people. We will connect with local churches to unite the body of Christ, serve the world, and help believers beyond our local confines. This is the Gospel manifested outside the world and limits of CMCC through spirit, mind, body, and might.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Ways of contributing to the global church: relationships, prayer, thoughts, talks, ideas, money, service, gathering, giving, etc.

· Justice through relief efforts, missionary experiences, poverty elimination, environmentalism, legislative\ungodly political processes, corruption and power used for evil, and systemic injustices

Immediate Goals

· Intentional relationship and partnership with Victory Tabernacle Church

· Pray for Amadeo Church, Gilbert, AZ

· Pray for Koinos Community Church, Reading, PA

Nascent Goals

· Mission trips that allow participants to see God moving beyond the U.S. and meet needs. Focused on the indigenous as God’s precious love and fully capable of a good and meaningful life that is self-sustainable

· Micro loans and other economic relief initiatives that allow peoples to become fiscally and spiritually self-sufficient

· Global medical and humanitarian relief efforts that take seriously the Beatitudes as well as the soul issues of the Gospel

· Global green movements that view environmentalism as a continuum of love in Christ

· Assist Victory Tabernacle by hosting annual summer picnic

· Journey with Gateway Community Church

· Justice issues

· Poverty issues

· Global relief issues

Continual Servant Team and Ministry Team Development

Providing formal leadership opportunities to grow spiritually and through credentialing. This process can involve informal and formal training, seminars, retreats, conferences, books, periodicals, etc.

Possibilities of Engagement

· Formal learning opportunities such as training

· Networking with other leaders regionally, nationally, and internationally (e.g. conferences, mentoring, one-on-one peer relationships, etc.)

· Increase leaders’ libraries, technologies, and tools to help them be better at serving and fulfilling responsibilities

· Retreats and other opportunities for the Team to be still, listen to the Lord, and make directional changes

· Multiplying gatherings within CMCC and new church plants with the Spirit’s unique identity

Immediate Goals

· Servant leadership series

Nascent Goals

· Yearly retreats for the Servant Team

· Provide leadership development for new pastors to raise up new churches and gatherings

· New church plants

· Partnering with others doing church plants