In response to the Great Commission of Jesus to go and make disciples, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church understands its Mission is to:

	INVITE our whole community to, Jesus Christ
	GROW as disciples
	SERVE the needs of the people in our community

Core Values

We envision St. Luke’s as a congregation of people whose faith in Jesus Christ makes us eager to invite others to experience the Good News; to grow in our faith through study, prayer, and practicing the spiritual disciplines together; and to serve the Lord by responding to the needs of people with practical expressions of the love of Jesus Christ.

We envision a congregation that is intentionally inclusive ... racially, economically, and culturally.

We envision a community of faith that understands itself to be local, regional and global in identity and ministry.  The community of faith exists wherever two or three are gathered in the name of Christ.  Community includes the network of covenantal relationships of the people within the congregation.  The community includes the neighborhoods, businesses and schools in the immediate vicinity of the church but also the places where our people live and work.  Community includes the connectional life and ministry of the United Methodist Church.  We affirm with John Wesley that the world is our parish.  Our relationship and commitment to Jesus Christ is the center of that dynamic sense of community.

We envision a church that is Wesleyan: Biblical; with fervor for “holiness of heart and life”; and dedicated to the equality of all persons and the ministry of all believers.

We envision a congregation whose leadership style is focused on identifying and developing people’s spiritual gifts; discerning the movement and will of God within the congregation; and giving people permission and equipping them to be in ministry.

Vision Statement

The Vision Statement outlines the next steps we will take as a congregation to live out our Mission & Core Values.

Serving Ministry
To serve the needs of people in our community

A strong value of our congregation is to reconnect the church to our community in faithful and effective ways.  To do this we will strive to:

• Develop projects based on the concept of servant evangelism in which people share God’s love in practical ways in the name of Jesus and the church.  We believe that a sustained effort in this area will greatly impact the relationship of St. Luke’s UMC with the immediate community.

• Encourage every ministry group in the church to be involved in serving ministries at least three or four times each year.  We want to continue existing outreach ministries such as Community Fun Day, Back To School Sale, reStart, CAC, UMES, Della Lamb, Spofford, etc.

• Encourage the development of Community Service Teams: groups of people who commit to service ministries with a particular focus such as a school, business area, neighborhood, government agency, etc.  These persons would meet for prayer, study, and primarily action in ways that share the love of Christ with a particular segment of the community. 

• Continue to develop a mission outreach strategy that will keep our congregation informed and involved in United Methodist missions around the world.  This includes encouragement and support for VIM projects.

• Develop and/or cooperate with ministry groups seeking to impact systemic issues of economic development, community relations, etc.

Growing Ministries
To grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Personal growth as disciples of Jesus Christ is crucial for our congregation to be faithful witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We hope to grow into the following ministries:

• Strengthen the Pastoral Care Team/Stephen Ministry so that our members and constituents are cared for deeply and effectively.

• Implement a series of Basic Faith Classes (short 4 week classes about Basic Bible, Basic Doctrine, and Basic Discipleship) for new Christians and friends.

• Develop on-going classes to help people identify and nurture their spiritual gifts for ministry.

• Continue to encourage people to participate in Disciple Bible, Companions in Christ, and Witness.

Inviting Ministries
To invite our whole community to Jesus Christ.

We want to truly become an inviting faith community that welcomes our neighbors and friends to share with us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• We are committed to strengthening our efforts to offer diverse styles of worship as we invite people to Christ.  (St. Luke’s Traditional; St. Luke’s Contemporary; and St. Luke’s Casual).

• We will look for ways to connect with people and invite them to our church through such efforts as servant evangelism projects; community prayer walks; passing out flyers; direct mailings and advertising through the Igniting Ministry programs.

• We need to strengthen and develop our hospitality ministries (greeters, ushers, fellowship, PIPO, etc.)

• Develop resources to train our people to be confident and eager witnesses.

Supporting Ministries
To support our efforts to invite, grow and serve.

The congregation organizes itself and provides facilities to support the mission, values and vision of the church. 

Over the next couple of years we will consider transitioning the Church Council to be comprised of the Lay Pastors.

We recommend this shift in structure to deepen the spiritual life of the congregation and to focus the efforts of the congregation on the Mission of the Church.  We also believe that it will be easier to recruit and assimilate new leaders with a new system of Lay Pastors.  Charter members could be Lay Pastors along with persons new to the congregation.  As Lay Pastors there may be a greater sense of parity and ownership.