Pickering Methodist Church – Our Mission Statement
Together with other Christians we seek to share God’s love in Christ through word and deed, nuturing the faith of those within the Church and introducing others to Jesus.
We do this by:
- underpinning everything we do with God-centred worship and prayer, offering relevant ways for exploring and expressing faith.
- engaging with existing building users and extending the range of activities offered.
- using our building as a community resource – open for prayer and friendship.
- seeking to make our building environmentally friendly, safe, attractive and welcoming to people of all ages.
- holding our heritage with respect: caring for our tradition and learning from it.
- supporting community initiatives that serve those in need locally and further afield.
We believe that to participate in the above is to engage in the mission of God.
Mission is the participation of Christians in the liberating mission of Jesus. It is the good news of God’s love, incarnated in the witness of a community for the sake of the world.
“Mission is quite simply, though profoundly, what the Christian community is called to do, beginning right where it is.”
Transforming Mission, David Bosch (2000)
Do we want to be “just a church” or A Just Church?
This was the question asked on the 26 in 26 poster from Church Action on Poverty, suggesting 26 actions churches could take to tackle justice issues around poverty in 2026.
Following this, Pickering Churches Together completed the Act on Poverty course in Lent, coming together to discuss poverty and our response to it. To make it effective, we need to take things further. This may only be in small actions, individually, as churches or as Christians working together.
The first thing is to acknowledge the support so many churches already give to Food Banks, charities, and Fair Trade. One of our charities this year is the Fund for Human Need which helps people who often have no other funds coming in, and we support Christian Aid and FISH – Food in School Holidays.
The next step is to publicise our commitment to Justice issues in our notice sheets, notice boards and online. This space can give helpful advice for people who want to make a difference.
There are many useful organisations which focus on these things and I would recommend JPIT – the Joint Public Issues Team which is ecumenical and has up to date thoughts and actions you can tap into. Eco Church is useful if environmental issues are more your concern and using the search engine Ecosia is an easy way to make a difference as they use their profits to plant trees around the world.
Justice is a Biblical principle and should concern us all.