Bethesda's Vision
Proverbs 29:18....where there is no vision, the people languish.
There are reams and reams of self help, business and faith writings, mottos, songs, pithy phrases and calls for individual and community, family, local, national, global, environmental vision.
There is a true and legitimate reason for all this Vision speak and energy...it is needed.
The Vision Team at Bethesda United Church, after a series of open access town hall meetings and prayerful deliberation presented the following Vision Elements to the Bethesda Official Board. These have been adopted as our life-giving and sharing Vision Elements, read and pray for them, we will over the next short while fill them in and start to live them out in concrete decision making and life changing Church and community experience.

The Bethesda Vision Elements:

Water
Ongoing promotion and development of the Link areas, recognizing that the Link is key to Bethesda sustainability and positive growth and outreach and that water is key to sustaining human, generational life, the trees in the nook, the growth in the healing garden and is flowing and has direction as does the Labyrinth.

Earth/Stone
Partnering with aboriginal peoples, recognizing the United Church of Canada as itself (see for instance our new crest), encouraging this partnership as a key justice and spiritual life issue and that earth/creation based spirituality is a place of widely shared passion and concern.

Air
Large scale intentional development and use of social media, recognizing that the digital/cyber world, while invisible like air and the Spirit is massively changing how communication, relationships and economies are moving forward in winds of change and growth in what is called by name, “the information third economic/cultural age”. (Rural era, industrial era, being the first two).

Fire
An Awesome Church experience in worship, for all ages, recognizing that worship is the central energizing force of the gathered church and that is the fuel that fires and gives energy to Christian Development/faith nurture, mission, and is the gathered warmth of friendship. Special attention is to be given to fuelling the fires of awesome church worship and faith in younger generations, who will bear the torch of the fuel of faith in Bethesda for years to come.

Love
Intentional connecting with schools and seniors homes, recognizing that love has a specific focus in building positive life giving, sharing relationships and shared life experiences with those people needing love to grow and learn (schools) and those needing love to sustain quality of life and wisdom sharing