Our Vision and Values

On March 13, about 30 people gathered after worship for a pizza lunch (thank you, Cory) and a time of visioning and focusing on our values as a congregation.

We began by brainstorming all the things we love about First United Methodist Church – and the list was long.Children’s programs and Sunday School led the list, followed by Mission and community involvement.A welcoming, open, accepting congregation and being a reconciling congregation came next, and then music, visitation, and leadership that is active and open to new ideas.

then focused on the values that all of these things we love represent, and ranked the values:

Spiritual matters were at the top of our values list:

A focus on God, Jesus and our faith/hope and love

A commitment to community and fellowship

Inclusion and openness

Outreach, mission, generosity and service

Social Justice

Other values that were mentioned include respect, courage, parenting.These are the values that will help guide the choices we make about our buildings and our budget in the future.

We also talked about the things that Melrose needs – and the top mentioned items include affordable housing, programs for teens and services for the elderly, as well as help for those with drug addiction.

There were many other needs mentioned as well. We will be thinking about ways in which we as a congregation can help to meet these needs.