Marble’s Future: Strength to Strength

As it says in the Psalms, “Blessed are those whose strength is in God... They will go from strength to strength” (84:5&7).

After months of preparation and hundreds of hours of participation from the Marble Community, the Strategic Plan is complete. This Strategic Plan presents a vision for a growing Marble Collegiate Church – growing in faith, growing in relationships, and growing in strength.

This plan celebrates the strength of Marble’s 168 years and also identifies our challenges. Over the next several months, five task forces will further refine the initiatives identified in each of the growing priorities. In our continuing efforts to involve you in this process, we invite you to submit refined or new ideas.

In the fall we will have an open forum with the congregation to provide a comprehensive update on the growing priorities and the corresponding action plans.

We are living in a time when our ministry has never been more needed. God is using Marble to bring healing to people’s brokenness, to draw people into a community beyond their differences, to lift up those who are vulnerable and marginalized, and to be beacons of hope for what can be in this chaotic, divided world in which we live. May our faith in Christ guide us and move us from strength to strength!

Why A Strategic Plan?

We shared with everyone at our Town Hall meeting in January that we have been facing several new challenges in our ministry, and yet we are so encouraged by the way our community has met these challenges with faith, not fear.

In this time of spiritual discernment, we spent time asking some very important questions, such as:

• Where are we, as a ministry, now?
• Where is God leading us?
• What new things is God doing in our midst?

One of the critical components in this time of discernment was/is hearing from you. Here is what we have done so far:

Community-Wide Survey – From March 20 to April 3, we asked the Marble Community to share their visions about the future of Marble in a community-wide survey.

Focus Groups – An invitation was sent out on January 28 and 31 to the entire congregation to participate in Focus Groups. Groups were led by Jake Mulder and Yulee Lee from the Fuller Leadership Formation Division of Fuller Theological Seminary on February 5 and 6. Thank you to all who participated.

FAQ

What are our challenges?
The Pandemic - We have been facing limitations on in-person gatherings through the pandemic, yet Marble has been able to expand its live streaming and virtual ministry for all ages to all fifty states and over 109 countries.
Budget - We faced foreclosure on the Collegiate real estate project next door and with it came greatly diminished financial support from Collegiate (see the emails sent out on June 25, 2021 and September 30, 2021). Yet Marble has been rising to the challenge and, with your support, we will strongly continue our ministry of healing and hope.
Space - We are facing reduced available space as our leases end in the property next door (276 Fifth Avenue), yet Marble has been able to renovate much of our existing campus, allowing us to house our programming. We can’t wait for you to see it!

Who is leading this process?
We are pleased to be working with a team from the Fuller Leadership Formation Division of Fuller Theological Seminary to help us listen to God and one another as we develop a strategic plan for our future. Fuller is one of the largest and most influential seminaries in the world, and there’s one thing they know well: churches! They are passionate about congregational ministry and are deeply creative and imaginative in their approach. They know how to ask questions that draw our minds and hearts from “what was” to “what can be.” They are professional, confidential, and hopeful in their approach, and we are very grateful they are so interested in and enthusiastic about working with Marble.