Our Mission and a New Vision
Last week many of our leaders at Lake Cities United Methodist Church came together for a visioning and planning meeting. We studied the leadership of Nehemiah and how his leadership could be something we could model for the future of Lake Cities UMC. The biggest outcome from the meeting was creating a new mission and vision statement for Lake Cities UMC. Although we appreciated where our previous mission and vision statement came from, we recognize that we are in a new phase of rebuilding the church and wanted to adopt a new mission and vision statement that our members could easily recite, understand, and implement. On Monday, September 20th 2021 the Administrative Council of Lake Cities UMC voted unanimously in favor of our new mission and vision statements.
Our newly adopted mission statement is actually not very new at all. We have elected to reclaim the mission statement of the United Methodist Church as our own once again. For those that do not know the mission statement of the United Methodist Church it is:
The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
This mission statement was revised in 2008 by the United Methodist Church at the General Conference to include “the transformation of the world”. This addition was to remind us that our goal of making disciples is not an end in and of itself but the vehicle we will use to transform the world. Additionally, it is the local church which provides the most significant arena through which disciple-making occurs and transformation to takes place.
Our mission statement defines in clear and concise terms what we do. Our vision statement however describes how we are going to do it. Our leaders after a time of study and prayer decided on 4 key words to define the vision we have for Lake Cities United Methodist Church. Those 4 key words are:
Invite, Grow, Serve, and Share
At Lake Cities we envision the fulfillment of our mission through concerted efforts of invitation, christian education, serving our community, and sharing the love of Christ with all we meet. Our new vision statement is:
Our vision of Lake Cities United Methodist Church is to be inviting, growing, serving, and sharing in Christ’s love.
So what does all this mean? Well nothing without intention. Without intention these statements are just words. However, we intend to utilize our newly adopted mission and vision statements to organize, plan, and reengage with God’s purpose for this church. Over the next few months and into 2022 we will be reviewing everything we do to see how they align with our mission and vision statements and we will be also looking forward to taking new steps to become a more vital church in the Lake Cities area. As your pastor, I am extremely excited about what is next for the future of Lake Cities and I hope that you are excited as well. In the mean time, pray for the new vision for Lake Cities UMC and for the leaders of the church as we intentionally move forward in this new season of the church.
In God’s grip,
Pastor Chuck Church
