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ELIZABETH MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH |
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ELIZABETH MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH |
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Our Vision as a community of faith is "a world transformed by the love of God as revealed to us in our Lord Jesus Christ."
Our Mission as a community of faith is "to serve God, grow in our faith and make disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Both of these statements are based on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as found in Matthew 22: 37-39 and Matthew 28:19-20.
In Matthew 22:37-39 we read an account of Jesus responding to the question of which is the greatest commandment. His response was "Love the Lord your God" with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (38). This is the first and greatest commandment (39). And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself" (40). All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (NIV)
As he was preparing to ascend into heaven to be with God the Father, Jesus gave his disciples the following commission: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (20), and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Our vision statement reflects the belief that it is only as all men and women are drawn to Christ and transformed by his love (John 12:32: "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself") that our world can truly be transformed to the creation that has been God’s desire from the beginning of time. A world in which people live in harmony with God, nature and one another. We believe that God calls us as his disciples to play an active role in sharing the love he has made known to us in Christ Jesus so that our world may truly be transformed one life at a time.
Our mission statement is inclusive of the things we believe must happen in our lives as disciples if we are to work with God in fulfilling this vision for our world. We begin by serving God. Our first service to God is to worship him in love as our creator with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind (Matthew 22:37). At the very core of our being as Christians is a heart of praise. Whether we prefer to worship in casual clothes, singing praise songs in our contemporary service, or with traditional hymns and dressier clothes in our traditional service is of little importance. What matters is that we praise God in a way that is meaningful to us and offers God honor and praise.
The second way in which we serve God is by loving one another (Matthew 22:39). We begin by our care for one another in our community of faith. The early Christian community we read about in the book of Acts is the model for this caring community. We see these first Christians selling their possessions and sharing their resources with one another so that none of them were in need. While we obviously don’t share a community treasury today, we do care for one another in our times of need. We support each other as we hold our brothers and sisters in prayer. Phone calls, cards, visits and offerings are all ways we show our love for other members of our community of faith. This caring does not end with the four walls of our church building however, for we also show God’s love for our brothers and sisters in the broader community. This takes place in a number of ways including our financial support to local and foreign mission projects and our involvement in "Christmas in April", youth work teams, volunteers in mission and Oakwood Terrace. We serve God in all of these as well as other ways.
The next part of our mission statement indicates that we "grow in our faith". This is extremely important. Giving our life to Christ is not the end of our spiritual journey. Our desire is to continue to grow in our relationship with him. This in fact is a Biblical mandate for everyone who surrenders their life to the Lordship of Christ. Hebrews 6:1 states: "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity....". Ephesians 4:13 tells us we must work together until we "become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
This growth takes place through personal study and devotion, attendance in worship, Sunday School, Disciple Bible Study, short-term studies and our women’s prayer and meditation group.
Last in our mission statement, but central in all we do is our response to Jesus’ call to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). As disciples, our first calling is to share the Good News about Jesus Christ so that others may come to know him as Lord of their lives. It is impossible to be a faithful disciple if we are not about this task. Someone has commented that the church is the only organization on the face of the earth that exists for the benefit of those who are not yet members. Some members of our community have been given a gift for evangelism that uniquely qualifies them for the task of sharing the Gospel, but each member can in his or her own way invite others to come to church.
Our mission then as a community of faith is to serve God, grow in our faith and make disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us commit ourselves to this mission so that our world may indeed be transformed by the love of God revealed to us in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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