We are entering into 2010: a year of vision for Sojourn Community Church.  Our heart and confident belief is that the gospel has the power to change – our lives, church, community and city.  Over the past 10 years, we have seen this power demonstrated firsthand through God’s grace: new life given to those who believe, authentic community shared, relationships and marriages restored, art and music culture redeemed, neighborhoods and the poor reached.

We know what lies behind, but what about what lies ahead?  How are we, as God’s people in Louisville, to mobilize, embrace mission, and “present our bodies as a living sacrifice wholly pleasing to the Lord (Romans 12:1)?”

A modern paraphrase of Proverbs 29:18 says that:

If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.

For the past two years, the pastors have been seeking God’s face through word and prayer asking the Lord to reveal to us His plans for Sojourn, knowing full well that only God alone builds his church.   In anticipation of God answering our prayers and as a means of listening to God, we set out to study our city and neighborhoods.  Our goal was to discover, by God’s grace, what He is doing around us so that we might align our resources, gifts, and staff in order to join in His redemptive plan for Louisville.

Over the next few months, as the pastors share with you Sojourn’s vision for the next decade, we will be posting portions of our city study in this blog.  We are excited to show you how this vision is in line with where we believe God is presently at work in our city and how he is calling you and me as Sojourn Community Church to be His agents of mercy and grace.

Have you ever wondered:

• what Community Leaders are saying about Sojourn? or
• what the dreams and desires of Germantown/Shelby Park residents are; or
• how you can make a difference in the lives of inner-city families?

Be in prayer with us!  We desire for you to get involved in what God is doing.  We want you to participate in making this vision reality.  Consider your particular part and how will God use you “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-13).”

The Louisville Study, titled “Louisville: Religious and Busy” is a comprehensive report on the city of Louisville.  The study includes a history of the city, demographic research, profiles on the neighborhoods surrounding the 930, needs assessment, proposed solutions that address systemic issues, and results from multiple focus groups held in late 2008.  You can read the entire report by clicking here.