Vision, Mission & Priorities
OUR VISION
God calls us to be followers of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to grow as a community of grace, joy and peace so that God’s healing and hope flow through us to the world.
OUR MISSION
Following Christ…
We are a community grounded in the way of Jesus, shaped by an Anabaptist Mennonite theology and spirituality, and embodying creative worship, study, prayer, and service that embraces and challenges all people, inclusive of diversity of age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic or social class, education, and physical or mental condition. First Mennonite Church is part of the global family of faith represented by Mennonite World Conference and the denominational family that is Mennonite Church USA.
Nurturing Community…
We commit to relationships of love and care, supporting one another, celebrating together, and accompanying each other as we grow, struggle, and flourish in faith and life.
Seeking a Just Peace…
We commit to joining God’s work of peacemaking and reconciliation and sharing Christ’s love in the Champaign-Urbana community and beyond. We are called to care for creation, learn from other faith traditions, connect with Christians locally and around the world, and serve the local community.
We commit to blessing, and being blessed by, all persons, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. We seek to engage our communities in ways that undo our society’s legacies of patriarchy, white supremacy, and colonialism.
Constitution and By-Laws
Learn more about our vision, mission, leadership structure, and decision-making process by reading our FMC Constitution and By-Laws, adopted in 2023.
2021-2022 Priorities (Images and explanations)
These priorities guided the work of Council in 2021-2022. New priorities and questions are being developed by the 2023 Council to guide our work over the next few years.
- Rewrite our organizational guidelines to better reflect and serve our congregation.
- Appoint and work with a committee to complete an anti-racism audit of our church.
2021-2022 Questions
Council raises these questions for intentional discernment about God’s leading at FMC. They may lead to future priorities or specific actions.
- How does our physical space serve us and our calling in the wider community?
- How can we nurture and equip a culture of hospitality where relationships grow organically? How can we help each other to better see the sacred within and the sacred nature of our life together as the body of Christ?
- How can we tend to trauma and loss within and beyond our FMC community?