About Atonement

What can we tell you about Atonement? Maybe the best place to start is where we are right now which was summed up nicely by a seminary student who wrote this in a recent paper about the congregation; "Atonement is a congregation that knows it is going somewhere, but it's not sure where yet." The key word there is "yet" because we're well on the way to figuring out where we are going. Part of what's exciting about being at Atonement right now is watching that vision emerge, and taking part in shaping it as well. The congregation has been in a vision discernment process for several months. We've clarified our Core Values and Bedrock Beliefs - the things that really define who we are. Now we're working on our Vision and Mission to chart a course on where we're headed!
As we're working to complete our discernment process, there are some things that are already "in the mix". For example, we often refer to "The Tree Image" as a way to think about what it looks like when people are growing as followers of Jesus. This image has five parts (based on the work of Pastor Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Church). The roots represent Worship, our relationship with God in Jesus that grounds and feeds us. The trunk stands for Fellowship - the bonds we have with each other that create a strong and supportive community.
The branches give a tree its overall shape, and for us as followers, living a faith-shaped life is what we call Discipleship. Next come the leaves, which remind us that each of us has unique gifts and abilities that we can use in service to others - our Ministry. And finally the fruit of the tree is Evangelism, which is not about "convincing other people we're right by arguing with them" but rather inviting them into the life we've found that's full of joy, purpose, excitement and meaning. (Please click The Tree for more information)

Another image we often refer to when thinking about our lives as believers is the "L-Shaped Pipe".
	The Pipe metaphor talks about flow - the way God's love, mercy and forgiveness flow into us from above, and then flow out again from us towards other people. That "feeling of flow" is what real joy is all about, and being a channel for God's love in the world is what humans were built for. We're "designed" to do just that. Of course, we sometimes get clogs, or leaks, or dents, or kinks and we need each other to see
what's going on and help get the flow going again. That's why we value our life together as a community so much.We need to flow to each other, and we need to be on the receiving end, too.

An image we've been using in thinking about vision is a set of concentric circles that we call the "Live-Serve-Lead" logo.

This represents one possible vision of the congregation, which our pastors have put forward to help stimulate discussion. This vision begins with the idea that we will become a community that lives together in such a way, that people frequently say; "This congregation changed my life!"Next, out of the passion and joy released from changed lives, we will serve out in our community so effectively that people will report back to us; "This church really cares about the community. This church is making a difference!"

Finally, we envision becoming a congregation so vital and effective, that we will be able to lead other congregations into renewal as well. We envision congregations reporting back to us saying; "Atonement is leading the way. Your congregation really helped mine: you showed us that it could be done."