East Molesey Methodist Church

Mission Statement

Objectives

We the Methodist people of East Molesey, see the following as objectives in support of our vision:

• To help people become followers of Jesus
• To help people grow in faith
• To recognise all as equal in God’s sight
• To encourage good quality worship
• To serve the local community
• To enable more people to feel included in the wider church community
• To maintain and develop links with the wider church
• To recognise our place in the global community
• To care for the earth’s resources
• To raise the profile of our church
• To place emphasis on work with young people

Actions

We will help people become followers of Jesus by

• Seeing everything that we do inside and outside our buildings as an opportunity to engage and participate in church life
• Using opportunities in community groups, at all the activities that we run and at occasions such as baptisms, weddings, funerals and Christmas and Easter to share our faith
• Guarding against being apologetic about our faith and fostering the confidence to share it with others
• Providing opportunities to explore the Bible and Christian faith

We will help people grow in faith by

• Holding regular fellowship meetings
• Holding events to explore spiritual issues
• Offering Bible study and other learning resources
• Offering prayer

We will recognise all as equal in God’s sight by

• Using inclusive language in our worship and communications
• Ensuring everyone feels welcome by providing safe, welcoming, warm, well-maintained, disability- and child-friendly, inclusive premises to give space and opportunity for church and community activities
• Carrying out access audits

We will encourage good quality worship by

• Helping the church to learn new hymns and worship songs
• Developing our Worship band
• Asking those leading worship to employ modern, jargon-free, inclusive English
• Appropriate use of technology
• Using the flexibility that chairs give to have appropriate seating arrangements
• Marking special Sundays

We will serve the local community by

• Making our premises available for community activities
• Discounting hall hire for local charitable and community users
• Providing support for East Elmbridge Food Bank
• Encouraging the use of the church for concerts, exhibitions, etc.

We will enable more people to feel included in the wider church community by

• Developing the wide variety of social activities where people can get to know each other better
• Providing child care in support of church activities
• Encouraging Pastoral Visitors to extend their skills by participation in training opportunities provided by the circuit and the wider church.
• Ensuring that visitors are recognised and welcomed
• Encouraging our wider church community to feel fully part of church life and to share in shaping and delivering activities.

We will maintain and develop links with the wider church by

• Fulfilling our role within the Teddington Circuit and the Methodist Connexion
• Sustaining and enhancing links with other churches in Molesey
• Providing opportunities for prayer requests

We will recognise our place in the global community by

• Having a quarterly focused effort on behalf of a designated charity
• Continuing to use and promote Fairtrade goods

We will care for the earth’s resources by

• Actively considering options to become a greener church
• Taking steps to become more energy efficient
• Raising awareness and promoting environmental evangelism

We will raise the profile of our church by

• Maintaining an accessible website
• Taking opportunities to publicise the work of the church
• Ensuring that a group meets regularly to coordinate and publicise events
• Interacting on social media
• Involvement in Molesey Carnival and Love Molesey
• Taking care over quality of presentation
• Use of church logo on notices and communications
• Making better use of opportunities to communicate our activities to hall users
• Cross marketing events, services, etc
• Pop-up art events including Christmas angels and picture displays

We will place emphasis on work with young people by

• Supporting the work of Our Children
• Supporting parents and providing activities for young children such as Tiny Crafters and Splodge
• Encouraging children and young people to have a sense of belonging in the church