About Salem United Methodist Church
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Mission:
To make Christ known, loved, and served here and everywhere.
Vision & Prayer:
God send us all people so that Christ can take broken lives and restore them.
This vision statement serves as our litmus test to determine whether we are on a mission or not. It is our plumb line against which we line up our program, personnel, and property decisions.
How do we fulfill God’s vision for Salem UM Church? What are the processes that people go through as they journey from an unbeliever to a fully devoted disciple of Jesus? Dr. Steve Harper in his book The Way to Heaven wrote about John Wesley’s strategy to grow Christians: “For each wave of grace, there was a corresponding formative element to connect people to that grace… this conscious alignment is one of Wesley’s finest legacies to the Christian tradition.” (p. 121) We have four stages of the transformation process. Therefore, these four stages reflect our strategy:
Reach:
Ministries that engage and invite unchurched people in our community to experience the love of Jesus through the body of Christ.
“Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.”
Matthew 22:9 (NIV)
Connect:
Ministries that help people connect to Jesus and the Salem UM Church family.
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer…They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42, 46-47 (NLT)
Form:
Ministries that help people have a growing and transforming relationship with Jesus Christ.
And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.
Isaiah 64:8 (NLT)
Send:
Ministries that release God’s people to make the realities of heaven the realities of earth.
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
John 20:20-22.
