• New visitors and members regularly
• New faces welcomed not just into worship, but into leadership
• Open to new ministry opportunities

Some philosophers argue that the definition of life is movement, or change. Certainly, lack of movement leads to stagnation, stagnation often leads to death. By that definition of life, Carleton UMC is a church that is alive.

Essential, and sometimes difficult for churches, is welcoming new faces into positions of participation and leadership in the congregation. That has not been a difficulty here - as examples, our nominations report contains the names of many persons who are relatively new to our congregation, and several of our choir directors and participants are recent additions to our church family.

As some of the wonders we have lifted up indicate, this is a church that is active, and alive. It is a church that is moving, and changing. Our prayer for the future is that we remain open to God's leading, so we can move into the future of God's vision for us, carrying always the message of God's love.