The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Rationale for Our Mission
The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the good news of God's grace and thus seeking the fulfillment of God's reign and realm in the world. The fulfillment of God's reign and realm in the world is the vision which Scripture holds before us.
Jesus' words in Matthew 28:19- 20 provide the Church with our mission: "Go therefore 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 that I have commanded you."
This mission is our grace-filled response to the Reign of God in the world announced by Jesus. God's grace is active everywhere, at all times, carrying out this purpose as revealed in the Bible. It is expressed in God's covenant with Abraham and Sarah, in the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, and in the ministry of the prophets. It is fully embodied in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is experienced in the ongoing creation of a new people by the Holy Spirit.
John Wesley and our other spiritual forebears understood this mission in this way. Whenever United Methodism has had a clear sense of mission, God has used our Church to save persons, heal relationships, and transform social structures, and spread scriptural holiness, thereby changing the world. In order to be truly alive, we embrace Jesus' mandate to make disciples of all peoples.
The Process for Carrying Out Our Mission
We make disciples as we:
-- proclaim the gospel, seek, welcome and gather persons into the Body of Christ;
-- lead persons to commit their lives to God through Jesus Christ;
-- nurture persons in Christian living through worship, baptism, communion, Bible and other studies, prayer, and other means of grace;
-- send persons into the world to live lovingly and justly as servants of Christ by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger, and freeing the oppressed; and working to have social structures consistent with the Gospel; and
-- continue the mission of seeking, welcoming and gathering persons into the community of the Body of Christ.
The Global Nature of Our Mission
The Church seeks to fulfill its global mission through the Spirit- given servant ministries of all Christians, both lay and clergy. Faithfulness and effectiveness demand that all ministries in the Church be shaped by the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 23080-LC-101-D
1996 United Methodist General Conference