On September 13 following the morning service we celebrated the “kick-off” of our Faith Nurture programs for the fall with a brunch. The Building Blocks Pilot Project was also introduced. As you may recall, this is a one-year project in which SLCRC is participating along with 14 other churches in the denomination. The Faith Nurture team considers this to be a helpful project to assist us with discipleship and faith formation.

The Building Blocks of Faith

• are reflective of what is taught in Scripture and in the Heidelberg Catechism. 
• look at faith formation as an ongoing process.
• can be used in a variety of ways. 
• provide a diagnostic tool for cradle-to-grave discipleship.

At the brunch each person was asked to complete the Building Blocks Assessment. What follows is a report on the results.

Overall, the scores reflect a general sense of satisfaction with SLCRC. For all age groups there is a genuine feeling of belonging to God and this church. People who filled out the assessment also feel that they are welcomed by this church community and that this community is a warm and welcoming place. These are all very positive observations, and for that we are grateful.

We were also encouraged that the scores were relatively high on statements about having hope. Our teens and children scored particularly high, indicating a confidence in the expectation that God will renew this world and that they are sure of the hope they have in Christ. The teens also scored high on the statement that their life decisions are based on that hope. We give thanks to God for those responses as well.

The committee did find a couple of areas in which we can improve. The scores were relatively lower for the statement about hearing personal stories of how God is working in the lives of members. This was also reinforced with low scores for the statement about sharing stories being a common occurrence. Could that indicate that we are hesitant to share personal stories of faith? We all have personal stories of how God has been working in our lives as we continue on our faith journey. Perhaps we should and can learn how to articulate and share those stories. 

Some of the older adults at SPCRC indicated that they aren’t always able to contribute to this community of believers. We want to assure them that this church must be bathed in prayer, and we know that many of you are already doing that.

These are the observations we made, based on the results of this one assessment. We continue to look for the strengths and the gaps in our faith formation ministry as we seek to live into the vision for this church family.