Mutual Ministry Goals 2026

Theological Basis for Mutual Ministry

Observing and bearing witness to the activity of God and giving account of our actions to God are fundamental aspects of the Christian life. Ministry belongs to the people of God and not just one person. Saint Paul uses the image of the one body with many parts and functions to convey the need for the Christian community to work together.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12

Therefore, the focus of the “Mutual Ministry” is not on any individual’s responsibility but on the community’s responsibility to observe and review our ministries within our commitment to follow Christ and be God’s people.

Our Mutual Ministry Goals for 2026

1. To increase the level of partnership between Church of the Good Shepherd and Emmanuel All Nations by including members of both congregations in key committee work ... as well as planning joint services and celebrations throughout the coming year’s church calendar and developing optimal building space and joint program arrangements.

2. To implement focused communications with the Parish regarding property redevelopment, including opportunities for parishioner questions and concerns, as well as between the Vestry and Property Redevelopment Task Force; and to develop and maintain a timeline of project progress, shared with the Parish, focusing on the accessibility and property sale projects.

3. To raise public awareness within the Federal Way community, sharing Good Shepherd’s mission, resources, and activities, utilizing multiple strategic, focused communication streams to more broadly recognize Good Shepherd as a valuable, sought-after community partner, centered around our mission to practice inclusion, inspire healing, and promote justice as we journey with Christ in love.

How did we arrive at these goals?

First, here is a review of Good Shepherd's goals for 2025:

1. To form a Faith in Action Team to be in relationship with persons currently being persecuted or marginalized. These would include but not be limited to communities such as migrants, the LGBTQIA community, persons of color, those in war-torn countries, and the unhoused. This will be done in cooperation with the Faith Formation and Outreach Teams. Actions will be only nonviolent in manner.

This goal was met. The Faith in Action Team meets frequently and publishes opportunities for the congregation to be involved in many ways, from prayer to political advocacy to nonviolent direct action. The Faith in Action Team now reports to the vestry monthly.

2. To facilitate the development of a new mission statement that better represents and speaks to who we are as a faith community in understandable language. This would include involving parishioners' input through group discussions of our purpose at Good Shepherd.

This goal was met. At the annual meeting in January 2026, the congregation chose to adopt the following mission statement: “The Church of the Good Shepherd practices inclusion, inspires healing, and promotes justice as we journey with Christ in love.”

3. To form a project team to pick up the work of the Buildings & Grounds Task Force and begin the building project as soon as possible.

4. To empower the Finance Committee to gather congregational input on their wishes for the woods; to contact and listen to the perspectives of the wider community; and to outline a long-range plan for the congregation’s land.

At a June 2025 meeting, the congregation approved a rough vision for these third and fourth goals. At the next all-parish meeting in August 2025, the congregation approved the formation of a Property Redevelopment Task Force. The Task Force began meeting in September with twelve members, chaired by the Rector. This group now meets monthly and reports directly to the vestry, and its progress toward the next steps in these goals has been steady.

In short, these goals were also met, in the sense that they represented the first steps toward larger goals that will be realized over a number of years.

Important Developments in 2025

During 2025, Good Shepherd began sharing space with the Kenyan congregation of Emmanuel All Nations. From the start, we have envisioned this as an intentional partnership, not merely “collecting rent.” But a simple space use agreement became the first step.

We also came to realize that in order to maintain not only our operating budget, but the capital demands on our property, we will need to generate more annual income. Our congregation has not been growing; we consider it a victory not to have shrunk drastically during the pandemic. But we know that we are still a rather well-kept secret in our city. Potential parishioners will not find us if they don’t know we exist.

We do know that once we sell the property, that nest egg will be able to produce significant ongoing funding from our diocesan investment funds—enough to put deficit operating budgets to rest for sure, and also to go a long way toward maintaining ongoing solvency.

These developments, in conjunction with the previously realized goals for 2025, worked together to lead us to our goals for 2026.