ON ONE--GENERAL
69. SECTION 5--MISSION STATEMENT
Mission is the action of the God of grace who creates out of love, who calls a covenant people community, who graciously redeems and reconciles a broken and sinful people in Jesus Christ, and who through the Holy Spirit calls the church into being as the instrument of the good news of grace to all people. Mission is also the church's grateful response to what God has done, is doing, and will do. A grace-formed church is one which responsibly participates in God's action in and for the world.
Bible is supremely the story of God's way in the world--God who is grace and whose way is grace. The traditions now joined in The United Methodist Church had distinctive differences, while sharing a common view of divine grace which was threefold: God's grace goes before us (prevenience); God's grace comes among us uniquely in the person of Jesus Christ (justification); and God's grace abides with us, restoring our lives to an unrelenting love for God and neighbor (sanctification). God's saving grace revealed in Jesus Christ is not three but one. The triune God is grace who in Christ and through the Holy Spirit prepares, saves, and makes a new people. Our traditions were united in proclaiming this one Christ, one grace, one mission as Holy Scripture testifies.
Scripture provides our decisive vision of mission. The biblical account stresses divine initiative. God is Creator and calls nature and nations into being. In specific act, God calls Abraham in order that through Abraham and Sarah and their descendants all nations of the earth might be blessed. In this action, God affirms that salvation and witness are inseparably bound. The people of God are wholly dependent upon the grace of God. To be in covenant with God is to be called into mission. Jesus Christ uniquely embodies God's mission. In the generosity of self-giving, God in Jesus Christ offers redemption to all people and invites them to become disciples and go forth as ministers of reconciliation. The New Testament churches are communities in mission. The book of Acts describes the work of the Holy Spirit extending the movement. Paul becomes an apostle to the Gentiles. Other Christians travel to spread the Good News. Jesus Christ is proclaimed: God's grace abounds!
Mission is witness to the God of grace. Witness has four essential dimensions:
1. Proclamation. We proclaim the gospel. We tell the story of God's gracious initiative to redeem the world. The imperative for proclamation is found in the gospel itself. Good news cannot be withheld.
2. Evangelism. To proclaim the gospel is fundamental; to invite persons to personal decision for and commitment to Jesus Christ and his being is equally fundamental. The gospel calls forth response. The invitation to respond to the gospel is evangelism.
3. Incorporation. We call persons to be incorporated into the Body of Christ. All who are "in Christ" share in the mission of Christ.
4. Servanthood. We serve as agents of God's liberating and reconciling grace among the nations. Witness is to whole persons and their social contexts. The wholeness of grace entails justice, mercy, and forgiveness. Our aim is, therefore, transformed people in a transformed world.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 69
1996 United Methodist General Conference