"I Have Called You Friends"

2026-2027 Formation Year Theme

John 15:15

I Have Called You Friends

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”

2026-2027 Ministry Year THeme

Introducing the Theme

Our theme this year invites us into deeper intimacy with our Creator. The God of the universe calls us his friends. He invites us to an intimate relationship with him, one characterized by face-to-face communication, the way good friends speak with one another. This, of course, implies heart-to-heart sharing. It implies intimacy, vulnerability, and love. God wishes to share his heart with us, and he asks us to share our hearts with him. He invites us to rest on his heart as he abides in the heart of the Father.

A Thematic Thread

Why a Theme?

At Stella Maris, we are implementing a theme for the ministry year (2026–2027). The theme will serve as a thematic thread running through our programming this year and bring to life our mission of encountering Jesus and helping others do the same. It aims to be memorable and inspiring, and a source of a kind of enduring Lectio Divina throughout the year.

Pray with Us