For the Aug. 31 meeting of the GPS team, we gathered at The Children's Place, one of our mission partners that has been designated to share in the mission portion of Second Church's recent capital campaign.

The GPS members (not all visible) at our meeting at The Children's Place.

David Matson, president and CEO of the agency, welcomed us and told us a bit about the agency and the needy children it currently serves.

Then we got down to the business of adopting a tentative draft of a vision statement, after which we began to take an inventory and assessment of the various pieces of ministry going on at Second now.

A vision statement tries to paint a picture of the reality toward which we are intentionally and prayerfully striving. Here's what ours says at the moment, though it's subject to change -- and will be supplemented later with a mission statement (to describe how we'll seek to reach our vision) and a values statement (to describe the standards we'll try to employ as we work toward our vision).

Second Presbyterian Church:

Where God’s amazing grace transforms lives

Second Church is not just a place where God is worshiped in the midst of our city and where souls cared for, but is also a people who — transformed by Jesus Christ — learn to love God, love our neighbors and love ourselves so we may serve our community and our world as the body of Christ.

At Second we:

• Joyfully worship God out of gratitude
• Teach ourselves, our children and others to be disciples of Jesus Christ by sharing the gospel with all who will hear
• Nurture souls within our congregation and outside our walls, especially the poor and voiceless
• Use our many talents and resources to work toward individual and social transformation by doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God

We'd love for you to react to the picture of Second that our draft vision statement is trying to paint. You may leave comments here, send e-mail to secondplan11@gmail.com or put a note in the file folder at church of the GPS moderator, Bill Tammeus.