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Ivy Creek United Methodist Church is a welcoming community of faith:
We offer sanctuary and purpose in a complex world.
Mapping a Journey of Faith
Discovering God's Vision For Ivy Creek United Methodist Church
A Summary by Reverend Bass Mitchell
On Friday night and all day Saturday (October 29 and 30, 2004), over thirty members of our church gathered in the fellowship hall for one purpose to open our hearts, minds, ears, and eyes to a new vision from God for our church. Led by the Reverend Skip Mullaney, who did a fantastic job, we believe God gave us such a vision. I am writing to share that vision which will act as a guide for us for the next 3 to 5 or more years. We did many things in preparation for opening ourselves to this vision not the least of which was prayer. But we look at the past and present of Ivy Creek Church. We learned something of the life cycle of churches, as well as characteristics of churches that are thriving, not merely surviving. We named our strengths and our weaknesses as a church, and began developing together a vision of where God would have us go as a church, who God was calling us to be here in this place at this time. Our vision statement (below) came out of great thought, reflection, sharing and discussion. Here it is: Ivy Creek United Methodist Church is a welcoming community of faith:
offering sanctuary and purpose in a complex world. What follows is a breakdown of what this vision statements means in terms of our reflection and living it out. Welcoming In all we do, we will seek to be a community that is inclusive, that reaches out to all, that is a community of open doors. Everyone will be welcome here. Our annual conference theme is one of a place at the table for everyone. We embrace that theme and will work in all our plans and programs to live it out. Community of Faith But we are not a social club. We are a people of faith. We are followers, disciples of Jesus Christ. At the heart of our life, of who we are is Christ, the Christ who ate with sinners, who welcomed one and all, who reached out to everyone. We are Christ's body in the world. We are his hands, feet, voice, heart, eyes. In all we say, do, plan we are seeking to share him and to have persons come to a saving knowledge and faith in God through the grace God gives in him. As a community of faith, we believe we have a unique role to play in a complex world. There are so many voices out there calling out to be heard, wanting allegiance, promising to be the truth. As a community of faith, we offer another voice God's voice in and through Christ, who we believe to be the way, the truth, and the life. We believe that in Christ we not only see who God is a God of love and forgiveness but also who we are called to be persons who love God with all their hearts and their neighbors as themselves. No one every exemplified this better than Jesus did. Therefore, we seek to be his disciples, to teach, preach, baptize, make disciples in his name, so that persons might find in him the sure light and guidance they need in a complex, noisy world. But in order to be such a community, we need to be constantly engaging in the following: Listening for God's Voice We realize that this is where it begins that we constantly seek out God's will, God's love, God's voice and grace for ourselves, opening our lives always to God's presence. As a community of faith, we will spend great time and attention to
to keep our ears constantly open to God's voice, our eyes wide-open for God sightings, our hearts open to fresh outpouring of God's grace and love, and our whole lives open to the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We cannot share what we do not have. We cannot help others in this complex world find the light and love they need if we do not have it and are constantly growing in it ourselves. Our first and foremost concern is to be who we say we are disciples of Christ, growing in our likeness to him, growing always in our understanding of what it means to be the people of God. One of our potential mission mantras reflects this need for us to first be open to God and God's love. It simply says: Inward peace, Outward action. In addition to the above mission mantra (a mission mantra is simply a short, catchy phrase that sums up our vision)'we had another possible one. It's: Ivy Creek UMC:
Proclaiming God's message - As a welcoming community of faith, we have a role to be the voice of Christ in the world, to share with the whole world, starting right here in our community, the good news of God's love and grace that has the power to transform, to change everyone and the whole creation. In all our plans and programs, we will keep in mind that we are messengers, that we are lights on a hill, that we are walking advertisements for the way of Christ. We will find and use every appropriate means at hand to share this message, not neglecting to also share it in our everyday lives, actions, and words. As the body of Christ, we have both a priestly and prophetic voice and role to play. The priestly voice is one of comfort to the hurting, the wounded, the left out. It's a voice of compassion, hands of love, hearts that reach out and embrace as the did the good Samaritan, as did our Lord. We are called to comfort the afflicted, the broken, and there are so many of them. No one must be left behind in our attitudes or actions. But our voice is also to be a prophetic one. Standing in the lineage of the great prophets who stood against the powers that be, we will let our voice be heard against injustice and about any and every social need or issue that impacts the human community. In other words, we are also called to afflict the comfortable, to confront evil and sin wherever they may be found, realizing that even the church itself also stands accountable to God. Giving ourselves to God's service - Jesus said about himself that he came not to be served but to serve, to give his life a ransom for many. Jesus submitted all he was to the will of God, sacrificing his life in love for the world. As his people, we will follow his example. In all our plans and programs, we will seek to encourage and equip our people to be God's servants in the world. As a church together, we will support outreach and mission locally and globally. We will constantly be open to new ways we can be of real hands-on ministry right here in our community. But we will also seek to instill in ourselves that we all have a calling to be servants of God following the example of Christ in our everyday lives in the work or professions we have, in our loving care of our own household and in our individual involvement in community service projects and programs. Our goal is to have the mind of Christ, who, though he was the Son of God, humbled himself, taking on the role of a servant, even giving his life on a cross. We would be servants in his name in every way, everywhere we can. Offering sanctuary and purpose in a complex world - By being a welcoming community of faith, listening for God's voice, proclaiming God's message, giving ourselves to God's service we hope to be a place, a community in which persons might find sanctuary, not just a haven of peace from the world, but a community in which they are so loved, receive the peace of God in their hearts, welcomed and nurtured that they can go out and help transform the world with God's love. That gives them a great purpose, a great reason for living. Indeed, is there a greater purpose or use of one's life than to help the world know the love of God and begin seeing the profound difference that love can make? So, here's our vision:
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