Siloam in Motion: Listening and Leading
As we enter a season of hopeful anticipation, Siloam United Church is taking intentional steps to understand where we’ve been,where we are now, and where God is calling us next. This has been a year of important movement—spiritual, structural, and communal—and we are excited to share how these pieces will come together at our January Leadership Retreat.
United in Worship and Service (UWS): A New Chapter for Siloam
This January we launch United in Worship & Service (UWS). UWS is an initiative of the Siloam United Church Council that weaves worship, leadership, and service together so that everything we do—meetings, planning, decision-making—flows from prayer, discernment, and a shared sense of sacred purpose.
Council will begin with a worship-shaped retreat in January that reviews our goals, reflects on God’s leading, and helps us listen for our next steps. Staff and M&P will focus on spiritually grounded teamwork, healthier communication, and meaningful goal setting. Ministers will enter spaces of spiritual companionship that offer rest, deep listening, and renewal.
United in Worship and Service is more than a program; it is a framework for how we live as a congregation. It helps us focus on what truly matters and supports a clear, healthy, mission-shaped identity for the future.
Learning from Trends, Data, and Our Own Story
At the retreat, the Leadership Team will review trends and data affecting congregations across the region—patterns in attendance, volunteer engagement, financial stability, demographics, and community needs. We will also examine Siloam’s own story, considering who we have been, what we have accomplished, and how our ministries have evolved.
This process is not about fear—it is about gaining clarity. By looking at both the wider context and our own experience, we can make wise decisions, steward our resources faithfully, and position Siloam for a thriving future.
Revisiting and Renewing Our Goals
During the retreat, we will bring all of this learning together to review Siloam’s congregational goals, ensuring they reflect:
- where we have come from,
- where we currently stand, and
- where God’s Spirit is nudging us next.
Because our leaders represent committees, which in turn represent the areas of congregational life, your perspectives and experiences will directly shape this process. This is not a reset—it is a refocusing. Our hope is to emerge with objectives that are clear, inspiring, and grounded in both discernment and reality.
Aligned with the UCC 2035 Initiative
Everything we will do at the retreat—launching United in Worship and Service, reviewing data, strengthening invitation, enhancing leadership practices, and engaging in communal discernment—aligns with the broader 2035 Initiative of the United Church of Canada.
The 2035 Initiative calls congregations to pursue sustainability, creativity, spiritual vitality, and shared mission. Siloam’s direction reflects these priorities and demonstrates thoughtful, adaptive leadership in action. This alignment is intentional: it shows that we are listening well—to our congregation, to our community, and to God.
Moving Forward with Hope
As we step into a new year, we do so with confidence—not because we have all the answers, but because we are committed to a process rooted in prayer, humility, and shared purpose.
We invite you to hold the Leadership Team in prayer as we undertake this work.
With God’s help, and with the gifts of our whole community, Siloam will continue to grow as a church united in worship and service—and united in hope.
From the heart of Siloam – reaching out to the world,
Pastor Christina