In 2024, Pacific Beach Christian Church was blessed to celebrate 75 years of ministry. We are immensely grateful for Pastor Brian’s 30 years of service and leadership. After completing a facility renovation and expansion journey 16 years ago, we were able to become mortgage-free last year. We came through Covid better than many churches, but we do notice the significant cultural and societal shifts in our community and the world at large.
The Board of Pacific Beach Christian Church made a decision last year to engage a consulting firm (Convergence) to help us plan for a successful future that will also include a pastoral transition at some point. In addition to hiring Convergence, the Board established a team of congregation members working in partnership with Convergence. Shirley Culver, Pastor Brian Daly, Addison and Kyle Griffith, Catherine Madrigal, Alex and Priscila Monteiro, Amber and Kevin Osbourne, Jeannine Reeves – so grateful for your service and dedication!
After presenting the survey results to our congregation in early December, the team continues to work in the assessment and discernment phase.
Following PBCC’s mission “Open wide your hearts, to God, to one another and the world”, we look at three dimensions:
Upward:
- What might God’s dream for this place be, and how can PBCC help realize God’s dream for a transformed world?
- How can we offer and model a path of discipleship and spirituality for persons of every age – from young child to “wisdom keepers”?
Inward:
- What is our identity as a church? What is our core?
- What are our guiding values?
- What are our congregation’s gifts, passions, and strengths? What are the “negative voices in our heads” that are holding us back?
- What does a thriving church look like today and in the future?
- How can we organize and focus our ministries and life as a church in a changing world to realize God’s dream for a transformed world?
- How do we create a shared leadership model that empowers lay people?
Outward:
- What role can churches in general and PBCC in particular play to bring hope and restoration to our community and neighborhood?
- What are the unmet needs in our community, churched or unchurched?
- What do we feel called and equipped to do in our wider community that may have an impact on people not already a part of our church family?
At this point, there are more questions than answers, but times of discernment and confusion draw us closer into God’s presence and power.
You all are needed in this process! Here are ways to engage and support this work:
- Prayer…always!
- God’s Dream and Congregational River of Life Activity during church work day on Saturday, March 7.
- Visit the Convergence tab on our website to see all the information. Be in conversation about your questions, comments, and ideas.
- Come to the upcoming congregational forum in April (more details coming).
In His service,
Christine Johnson
Chair Convergence Team