OUR VISION AND MISSION

Living the Mission: A New Season of Purpose at Bethlehem First UMC

By now, hopefully you have heard our new mission statement, or at least read it here in the Bethlehem Happenings, on a bulletin cover, seen it on one of our social media platforms, or heard us mention it in worship. Now, we’re going to start striving to live into it fully.

At Bethlehem First UMC, we believe God is calling us into a new season of clarity, purpose, and renewed commitment. That’s why we’ve adopted a new mission statement to guide us forward:

Our Mission Statement:

“Bethlehem First is a community of believers devoted to showing Christ’s love, sharing the hope of His promises, and building relationships that transform lives; we do this by worshiping passionately, inviting joyfully, nurturing faithfully, growing intentionally, and serving wholeheartedly.”

This statement embodies our core values as a congregation that guide us as we seek to follow Christ in our daily lives. By worshiping passionately, inviting joyfully, nurturing faithfully, growing intentionally, and serving wholeheartedly we come together to fulfill God’s calling to show the love of Christ, share the hope of His promises, and build relationships that transform lives.

Our Guiding Statement:

“Showing the love of Jesus Christ, sharing the hope of His promises, and building relationships that transform lives.”

This statement captures our desire to reflect Christ’s love in every aspect of our church family, our community, and in our individual lives; to share the life enriching hope found in Him, and to build relationships that lead to true transformation in our lives, in our church, and in our community.

Our Motto:

“Showing Love, Sharing Hope, Building Relationships.”

This concise, easy to remember motto captures the essence of our mission as a congregation. It is a simple statement that reminds us of our calling to love like Jesus, offer hope to those around us, and build deep, transformative, life-enriching relationships that reflect God’s kingdom.

We believe these three statements capture not only who we are, but who we aspire to be. They remind us that our faith is not just about what happens on Sunday mornings, it’s about how we live, love, and serve every day. But a mission without direction can quickly become just words on a page. That’s why we’re also embracing our five core values, these are the practical, powerful ways we live out this mission together:

  • Worship Passionately – because love for Christ starts with adoration and praise.
  • Invite Joyfully – because hope is meant to be shared, not kept to ourselves.
  • Nurture Faithfully – because deep relationships and care build strong spiritual families.
  • Grow Intentionally – because spiritual maturity doesn’t happen by accident.
  • Serve Wholeheartedly – because love becomes real when it takes action.

This is a challenge. It’s an invitation. It’s a vision for the kind of church we’re becoming together. So we invite you to join us on this journey. Bring a friend. Pray for God to stir something fresh in your heart. And come ready to discover how God is calling us, both as individuals and as a church family, to live with greater love, deeper hope, and transformational relationships. Because when we live out our mission, we reflect Jesus to the world and lives are changed.

WORSHIP – Disciples make worship a priority every week.

“Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” —Psalm 150:1-6

Worship shifts our focus from ourselves to God. Worship is what we do and who we are. Worship is a way of life. Worship is my response to God’s love, grace and mercy. Worship is public and private (corporate on Sunday and individual daily).

INVITE – Disciples extend an intentional invitation to others.

“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” —Acts 20:24

An intentional invitation requires us to reach out to the community to share Christ’s love. Disciples invest in the lives of others & invites them to join us on our journey of faith (Invest & Invite) Inviting others into a relationship with Christ fulfills the Great Commission. Inviting others into a relationship with Christ encourages and blesses them.

NURTURE – Disciples make time to develop Godly friendship.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If they fall down, they can help each other up. But pity those who fall and have no one to help them up!” —Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Nurturing Godly friendships encourages us to join with others along life’s journey. Nurturing Godly friendships helps us face issues by providing support & encouragement of other believers. Nurturing Godly friendships enriches our lives and helps us to enrich the lives of others. Nurturing Godly friendships gives us the encouragement we need to continue to grow in our faith.

GROW – Disciples make a commitment to grow spiritually.

“I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.” —Philippians 1:9-10

Spiritual growth fortifies my faith and develops my understanding of God. Spiritual growth is a continuous process. Our faith grows and deepens throughout our lives. Spiritual growth takes place in worship, small groups, Sunday school, and individual study.

SERVE – Disciples make a difference by serving others.

“There are different ways to serve the same Lord, and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do. The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.” —1 Corinthians 12:5-7

Serving others enables me to discover, develop and use my talents to support the ministries of BFUMC. Service strengthens my commitment to God and my church. Service is how I support and participate in my church.

We want you to earn your WINGS! Contact us if you would like more information.