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3-5 Year Vision

In June 2021 we spent some time sharing about Upper Room's 3-5 year vision in a sermon series called "Live Forward." Here's a brief description of where we're headed as a community in the next 3-5 years.

 

If you'd like to listen to the series and hear our vision in greater detail, please click the link below. 

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Alive through the words, actions and presence of Jesus,

we envision an Upper Room Community that... 

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EXPLORES  

Explores new rhythms and forms of worship within and beyond our Sunday gathering. 

  • Experiments with multiple forms and expressions of worship in an effort to engage the community in experiences that are formative, playful, innovative and experiential

  • Creates weekly, monthly, and quarterly rhythms that provide both variety and consistency in gathered communal experiences

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Current Glimpse

COVID-19 has forced us to experiment with new models for gathering. For instance, our Liturgy series experimented with putting the elements of worship into the hands of our congregation through shared leadership and smaller group gathering spaces. And social media has expanded our imagination of how we might offer opportunities for connection and spiritual formation virtually throughout the week. 

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CREATES 

Creates intentional spaces for meaningful human relationships.

  • Invites community members to invest in long-term and high engagement relationships

  • Facilitates multiple expressions of deepening community such as small groups, group spiritual direction, and intentional justice work

  • Cultivates a community that is practiced in deep listening and radical hospitality

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Current Glimpse

One of the beautiful things about Upper Room is the depth of relational fabric woven throughout our community. Many people have been in intentional relationships with one another for over a decade and we celebrate that. Currently our student mentoring program provides a meaningful example of what it looks like when community members invest in long-term and high engagement relationships. 

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CULTIVATES  

Cultivates a public and permeable presence among our broader community.

  • Celebrates an outward facing posture and removes barriers to engagement

  • Pursues close proximity and presence within the broader community 

  • Encourages use of facility as a shared space with community leaders and partners

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Current Glimpse

We currently celebrate community members engaged in outward facing postures, serving and caring for the communities surrounding Upper Room. Over the years we have participated in connections with organizations like Good Grocer, One2One Mentoring, Every Meal, and Avenues for Youth. These partnerships have connected Upper Room to the broader community.

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PURSUES  

Actively pursues racial and economic justice, healing, and renewal in the world.

  • Connects our practices of healing and restoration to work for justice and renewal

  • Commits to staying on the path of both our personal and communal work toward antiracism

  • Prioritizes partnership with organizations that are led by BIPOC

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Current Glimpse

In the wake of George Floyd's death we saw an unmistakable opportunity to step toward justice work in a more intentional way. We have an anti-racism group, who meets monthly, wrestling with issues of justice centered on race. We had a series of three events - under the banner of UR on the Move- with the hope of raising awareness and taking a stand on behalf of those who are experiencing injustice - all the while supporting three organizations working hard for a more just world.

For in God, we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28

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