As a church made up of diverse people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, skills, values, and opinions, our guiding statements help us communicate to others and to each other who we are, what we do, and how we do it.
Mission: What are we trying to accomplish?
Our mission is that of the whole church at all times and in all places. Jesus’ command is a common thread that reminds us that our local communities' work is a part of something larger and more ancient than any single time or culture. The following three statements are that mission.
LOVE GOD (Matthew 22:37-38) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
LOVE PEOPLE (Matthew 22:39) And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
MAKE DISCIPLES (Matthew 28:19-20) 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
LOVE PEOPLE (Matthew 22:39) And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
MAKE DISCIPLES (Matthew 28:19-20) 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Values: What Do Free Methodists Care About Most?
Throughout church history God has raised up distinct movements like ours to enrich the larger body of Christ. Building on the legacies of John Wesley and B.T. Roberts, but always discerning where God is moving today, our identity is shaped by values that are both historical and aspirational. In a time of rising polarization in our nation, we resist the pull toward both fundamentalism and theological liberalism. The Free Methodist Way is a path that takes the whole gospel seriously and continually calls us to “both/and” convictions in an “either/or” world. The following are our values.
Life-Giving Holiness: God’s call to holiness was never meant to be a burden, but a gift that liberates us for life that is truly life by delivering us from the destructive power of sin.
Love-Driven Justice: Love is the way we demonstrate God’s heart for justice by valuing the image of God in all men, women, and children, acting with compassion toward the oppressed, resisting oppression, and stewarding Creation.
Christ-Compelled Multiplication: The gospel of Jesus Christ — the message He proclaimed, the life He lived, and the ministry He modeled — set into motion a redemptive movement destined to fill the whole earth.
Cross-Cultural Collaboration: From the beginning, God intended to have people from every nation, culture, and ethnicity united in Christ and commissioned to carry out His work in the world.
God-Given Revelation: We hold unwaveringly to our conviction that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Love-Driven Justice: Love is the way we demonstrate God’s heart for justice by valuing the image of God in all men, women, and children, acting with compassion toward the oppressed, resisting oppression, and stewarding Creation.
Christ-Compelled Multiplication: The gospel of Jesus Christ — the message He proclaimed, the life He lived, and the ministry He modeled — set into motion a redemptive movement destined to fill the whole earth.
Cross-Cultural Collaboration: From the beginning, God intended to have people from every nation, culture, and ethnicity united in Christ and commissioned to carry out His work in the world.
God-Given Revelation: We hold unwaveringly to our conviction that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Vision: Who & What are we striving to become?
Despite being a part of something larger, God has something unique for us as a local gathering of believers. We are,
Transformation is not something we hope to arrive at, but something we hope to be constantly pursuing. Also, as a church, we are not individuals, nor a building, but a community. God’s love flows into us, but it also flows through us and into the people around us within the church and everywhere we go.
The 7 Habits: The Practices that will guide our methods
Our mission, values, and vision will never become a reality if we just sit back and hope they happen. These habits are our strategic plan for accomplishing our mission, embodying our values, and realizing our vision.
- Pursuing Maturity: We submit to God’s desire to transform us continually. With a posture of humility, we admit the limitations of our own practices and conclusions while actively working toward wholeness and wellness.
- Sharing Resources: Everything we have belongs to God; we are stewards of the time, talents, possessions, and money entrusted to us. Because of that, we give to God’s work through the church and share with others out of the abundance God has shared with us individually and collectively.
- Cultivating Trust: We trust God and one another, but trust takes work to maintain. We maintain trust in God through regular prayer and taking steps of faith. We maintain trust in each other by practicing a charitable attitude, speaking honestly within our relationships, addressing problems directly and promptly, and building safe and transparent systems.
- Inviting Growth: God actively invites people to draw closer, and we have a part in that. As we each stand ready for God to nourish our own faith, we also actively prepare to offer hospitality and support to others. We do this by preparing for new relationships, praying for one another, and walking together toward deeper discipleship.
- Valuing Effort: By calling ourselves “Christian,” we represent Christ in every part of our lives. Therefore, we strive for excellence in our individual lives and as an organized community. We do this by celebrating effort, encouraging diligence, and constantly pursuing improvement in our practices and intentions.
- Giving Grace: As God bears with us, offering undeserved grace, we bear with one another in love and patience, remembering we are all broken in our representation of Christ. Therefore, we do not wield shame or guilt but instead, in humility, deal with one another with compassion.
- Revealing Hope: We share a hope that God is actively restoring all creation through the Spirit-empowered work of the church. We deliver this hope by actively working toward flourishing in our households, schools, workplaces, and communities. As we do this, we introduce our neighbors to Jesus, who delivers true hope to all who choose to believe.