Wilmore Free Methodist Church

We recognize and celebrate the fact that every church is not for every person.    

There are differences in mission and vision and levels of expected involvement.  

Want to find out who we are and if you fit in?  Read on.

Our Vision:  A Community That Reflects Jesus’ Vision and Values

In developing our vision, we sought to answer the questions, “If the future were ours to write, how would we write it?  What would the finished product look like?”  Here is the future we pray to see:

A Community:  Our definition of community starts with nuclear family, spreads to church family, then to our neighbors, friends, communities, nations and world.  Like our spiritual founder, John Wesley, said, “The world is our parish.”  We are responsible for all the communities of which we’re a part.

That Reflects:  Any good thing we are or do…any good gift comes to us from the Father.  Just one of His good gifts is the ministry and presence of His Holy Spirit, Who can transform Christ-followers into people who resemble Jesus in every way.  We want to show people Christ.  We want people to see Jesus when they look at us.

Jesus’ Vision:  Jesus looked upon His world with the love of the Father, with true compassion, with a firm understanding of priorities and with an eternal perspective.  We seek to develop through study, and to pursue through prayer, Jesus’ way of seeing the nuances and people of our world.

And Values:  Jesus was holy – set apart for the calling and ministry of His Father with the highest moral values – values which speak of our holy God.  We seek not what we can get away with, morally, but what else God calls us to do and be to be more like Him.

Our Mission:  WFMC will faithfully offer to our neighbors, near and far, the word of God, the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

To us, mission is the pathway toward the vision – the future we want to see.  Our mission, unpacked a bit, means something like this:

WFMC Will Faithfully Offer:  We are a people called to offer the truth that we’ve come to know and embrace about Jesus.  We do not insist, argue, threaten or beat into anyone what we know about Jesus, as if we could.  God calls us to simply offer, and we respond to Him…we offer Him to others in loving obedience.  We also do this faithfully – which means that we offer Jesus both consistently and in a faith-filled manner.  We realize that unless the Lord speaks through our offering, nothing eternally substantial will occur.

To Our Neighbors Near and Far:    We offer Jesus to neighbors near – those with whom we work and attend school, those who live in our neighborhoods, those we see at the stores and on our streets, and to our neighbors far – those who live in other parts of our cities, states, and in other nations.  We are a global community with a global responsibility.  As John Wesley said, “the world is our parish.”

The Word of God:    We offer our neighbors, first of all, the Word of God.  All of our wisdom and actions on their behalf rises out of the Bible, which we affirm to be the infallible message of God to His creation.  We hold Scripture in high esteem and realize our dependency upon it as our living guidebook for life.

The Love of the Father:    We also offer our neighbors the fact that they are loved by the God Who created them, Who wants deeply to engage them as a healthy father engages and loves His children.  We offer them God’s love by loving them ourselves, unconditionally.  We allow His love to work through us.

The Grace of the Son:    We also offer our neighbors grace – that same unmerited favor that we all know and experience through the sacrifice of Jesus, God’s Son, on our behalf.  Our church should be a place known for mercy, forgiveness, patience and everything else associated with the grace of Jesus.

The Power of the Holy Spirit:    Finally, we offer our neighbors the power of the Holy Spirit, our Guide and Empowerer, Who brings to those who embrace Him wholeness, healing, restoration, peace, joy and rest.  All these things belong to God’s Church and can be found where the Holy Spirit is permitted to freely exist and minister.  We offer these blessings to our neighbors.

Listen to one of our recent messages from Vision / Mission Sunday.

WFMC’s Core Values: 

True Worship:  We believe that worshipping Christ truly has not so much to do with our liturgical and musical forms, styles, and preferences as it does with the condition of our attitude and heart as we come before our holy God as His people to adore Him. We seek holy hearts, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, that our worship may be true.

Full Obedience:  “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam 15:22). In order to please God, He asks us to listen to His voice, discern His will and obey Him fully, in every area, with no hesitation. Full obedience to His Word in all things is our goal.

Joyful Service:  Joyful service to God is evidence of a living faith and of a heart warmed by the Holy Spirit.  Joyful service is also the way we work out our salvation. Whether it’s service to one another, to the church, or our communities, we seek to serve wherever and however our Lord calls us, with joy.  We are a church who serves out of love for Christ.

Eternal Perspective:  We have a sure hope for the future, and so we watch expectantly for Christ’s return to earth to declare final victory over the powers of sin and death (Rev 22:12). God has given us power to live victoriously over the present entanglements of sin, yet there is coming a day when His glory will be revealed and everyone will see that Christ is King.  We watch for that day.

Christ’s Presence In The World:  This is the charge we were given until Christ returns – feed His sheep, take care of His lambs, and tell others about God’s great love and mercy. We are to be light in a dark world, salt in a tasteless land – as Jesus was while He walked with us here on earth. The presence of a Christian should reflect the presence of Christ – toward this we strive.

Descriptive Adjectives of WFMC:

Accepting and Loving – WFMC accepts and loves all who seek community with us.

Biblical – In every situation, our unashamed desire is for the Bible to be our standard.

Connectional – We are pleased to be a part of a connectional denomination, so we are accountable for our speech and behavior to ordained, human authority, as well as to Christ.

Intergenerational – WFMC understands and desires the health of cross-generation interaction and friendships.  We want to learn from those older and wiser than us.  We also want the youth, energy and vigor of those younger than us.  We believe the intergenerational church builds Christian character in believers and has an important role in making us complete in Christ.

Missional – Our church members understand that we have nothing less than the mission Jesus gave us to complete – to make disciples, helping others to follow Him along with us.  We are unabashedly evangelical in our faith.

Obedient – Contrary to our prevailing culture, we do not beleive that “obedience” is a bad word. On the contrary, we seek to obey all the teachings and modelings of the Lord, and the instruction of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus Himself said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.”

Surrendered – We believe that the core of the holiness God requires of us is living a life surrendered completely to Jesus.  WFMC members seek to put His will always above ours, submitting ourselves fully to Him.

Worshipful – Our church understands that worship is not just what one does on Sunday morning, but how one lives every moment of every day.  Thus, WFMC members seek to live worshipful lives before our Lord.