Vision Statement Our vision at East Trinity United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ by embodying God's transforming grace through acts of piety and acts of mercy seeking God's image for ourselves and the world, now and forevermore. Our: We claim this vision for ourselves. We have prayed over every word seeking discernment of God's purposes and will for ourselves. To be "ours" implies all of us are included as one united community. Vision: We believe this is how God envisions us to be. Therefore, we claim it as our own vision. We seek God's direction and His will faithfully trusting God in our lives. Because we believe this is God's vision for us, we can live knowing God is present and alive within the entire community and each of us. At: Our vision is "at" a specific place and time. It is unique. God always acts very intentionally and specifically for His purposes. East Trinity United Methodist Church: The church is not a building but a fellowship of believers knowing themselves to be children of God. Because, relationship is more important than church membership, the church is more than those on the membership rolls. We are an extended community and everyone is welcomed and appreciated. Is: A verb in the present tense meaning "it is happening now!" This is not some futurist goal or something we claim for the future. Rather, we already claim this vision for ourselves and we are allowing God to form us as one community. To make: This is a process. It does not happen automatically but is something we are striving to form in ourselves and in one another with God's help. It takes direction and effort, so we are intentional in what we are doing. Disciples: A pupil and follower of a teacher. It is clear how we should ideally be and who is our example. This is not an easy or carefree lifestyle. In fact, we remind ourselves the word "Discipline" derives from this word. Of Jesus Christ: We are very clear who is our example and teacher. This is one person of the Trinity, namely the Son of God. This same Jesus Christ is the same person described in scriptures and creeds. He is not a standoff or passive God. Rather, he can be experienced and known by his disciples. By: Disciples are known by whom they follow. They are distinct and live a distinctive lifestyle. Embodying: Disciples, not only have specific knowledge about what they believe, but also personify their beliefs. Jesus Christ was God incarnate and our example. Therefore, disciples are to so become like our God that we also become a visible image or example of our God incarnate. Not that we become God, but rather we live out our faith so others can see God reflected and mirrored in our lives, and we can become means of grace for the world. Scripture says we were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). This is a relational term of how we are to be in relationship with God and one another. God's: We worship and follow a specific understanding of who God is. This is a God who can only be known as a triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Our God has created us as His own; has first reached out to us; seeks to save us from our sin and the sins of the world; and to make us again into His own image as we were first created to be. This is the same God shown to us through the scriptures and throughout history, and whom we can now experience. Transforming grace: We believe in "Prevenient grace" which seeks us before we even know there is a God. We believe in "Justifying grace" which saves us from our sins and claims us as a redeemed child of God. However, God does not leave us there. God is about transforming us back into His perfect image. This is a life-long journey. This grace changes how we relate to others, what our priorities are, and how we are to love God and one another. Through: God has chosen to use specific means and ways to bestow grace upon the world and us. Some of these means of grace manifest God as the initiator. In other cases, God has chosen to use what we initiate to bestow grace upon us and others. Acts of piety: Sometimes called spiritual formation, including the means of grace as found in searching the scriptures, prayer, fasting, Holy Communion, and worship. And: We do not limit the ways in which God can grace us. We should balance our acts of piety and acts of mercy as one builds upon the other. Acts of mercy: Those actions and ways which we serve and give to others; including, but not limited to; "The feeding of the hungry, the clothing of the naked, the entertaining or assisting the stranger, the visiting those who are sick or in prison, the comforting the afflicted, the instructing the ignorant, the reproving the wicked, the exhorting and encouraging the well-doer; and if there be any other work of mercy, it is equally included in this direction." (John Wesley's Sermon, "Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, VI," 1748) Question 11 of the minutes for the 1744 Conference asks; "Are works necessary to the continuance of faith?" The answer given was; "Without a doubt; for a man may forfeit the free gift of God, either by sins of omission or commission." Seeking: God continues to reveal Himself to us. We never know all there is to know about God nor do we often know more of what is required of us than the next immediate step. Therefore, we are continually seeking to know God more intimately and completely. God's image: Scripture records we are created in the image of God. This is a relational image of perfect relationship with God, neighbor, and the universe. Through sin we have lost this relationship. However, we can be redeemed and placed back into a proper relationship through faith in Jesus Christ. For ourselves: Christianity is a personal faith involving our personal relationship with God and one another. Each of us is a unique child of God, created by God, and has worth and value. Every person is valuable and is redeemable through the grace of God. And (for) the world: The entire world is one. All people are children of God and no one is to be left out. In fact, none of us can be entirely as God has created us to be if even one person in the entire universe is not included in community. Now: Jesus said the kingdom of God has come in Him. We believe we can live differently now in relationship with God and one another. (Luke 17:20-21) The kingdom has come, is coming and will come. And forevermore: God is a faithful God. His promises of care and safekeeping are forever even for all eternity. (Minutes of the Methodist Conference, from the first, held in London, by the late Rev. John Wesley, A.M., in the year 1744. Volume 1. London; at the Conference Office, 1812) As quoted in "The Early Methodist Class Meeting" Watson, David Lowes, Discipleship Resources, Nashville, 1995.)

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