Eight years ago the members of our church gathered for a weekend retreat in western Maryland to prayerfully bring to completion a 5-month process to discern our church’s values. The 5-month discernment process began in November of 2009 with a survey of our membership, and then continued through 3 monthly focus group meetings facilitated by a coach. The fruit of the focus group was discerning 6 values: truth, worship, mission, relationship, passion, and authenticity. During the retreat in earl...