Brighton First Mission Aligns with United Methodist Mission

I was recently looking through The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church (2012) in search of our denomination's "purpose of the church". (Yes, I REALLY was doing this!) The Mission of The United Methodist Church is on page 91, paragraph 120 in the Discipline. "The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." 

In Paragraph 122, page 92, I found a list of the ways that the local United Methodist church is called to fulfill its mission. 

• Proclaim the gospel, seek, welcome and gather persons into the body of Christ;
• Lead persons to commit their lives to God through baptism by water and the spirit and profession of faith in Jesus Christ;
• Nurture persons in Christian living through worship, the sacraments, spiritual disciplines, and other means of grace, such as Wesley's Christian ;conferencing
• 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, freeing the oppressed, being and becoming a compassionate, caring presence, and working to develop social structures that are consistent with the gospel; and
• Continue the mission of seeking, welcoming and gathering persons into the community of the body of Christ.

I was struck by how this process reflects the mission of Brighton First. Our mission is to Know God, Love God, Serve God. People come to know God through the witness of believers. We do this by living and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus in our lives and welcoming others to join us in faith community.

People come to love God through spiritual practices like worshiping together, participating in Holy Communion, and being in meaningful relationships with other Christians for study and personal connection. These practices nurture the followers of Jesus Christ.

And when we know and love God, we are compelled to serve God, reaching out to be the hands and feet of Christ to people in need.

Ultimately, the mission of Brighton First, is a shared mission with the faithful of our entire denominations. All of our efforts are to invite, nurture and send out disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.