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"Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world."
- The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church (page 45)

Our Mission & Vision

Dumbarton United Methodist Church is a covenant faith community that seeks to interpret and answer God's call in creative ways through worship and social action. Dumbarton seeks to be inclusive in its membership, to discern the word of God in its liturgy, study, and prayer, and to nurture and heal one another. In striving for social justice, Dumbarton is grounded in Christian spirituality, and attempts to be a prophetic voice in ministry with others. Dumbarton works to build and maintain a supportive faith community that can be a sign, foretaste, and an instrument of God's loving grace following the caring ministry of Jesus.

A Vision for Dumbarton United Methodist Church

Dumbarton is a community of faith centered in God. Our vision is based on faith and is shaped by our biblical, theological, and historical response to God's love and grace.

We believe we are called to: build a covenant community and to witness and act in God's world.

Building a Covenant Community

Through God's grace, we live our lives, take action, and exist as children of God.

We are building a community that will:

• Be inclusive: We will welcome and affirm everyone. Our building and environment will be accessible to everyone.
• Nurture: Drawing from the example of Christ's healing ministry, we will encourage and care for each other. We will follow in the Wesleyan tradition of creating small groups in which every member feels responsible for every other member.
• Inspire: We will pass on to our children, faith in God and the traditions that ground us in the Good News of Jesus Christ. We will work to involve children, teens, and young adults in the life of the church, and in turn, be enriched by their participation.
• Celebrate: We will share the Christian story and allow the work of the Holy Spirit to show through all our activities. We will encourage diversity, humor, and innovation in our worship, music and the arts, and our recreation.
• Teach: We will encourage Christian education for all ages and create a place and environment that supports Biblical and theological study and understanding.
• Dare to Plan: As participants in the present and coming reign of God, we will be intentional in making decisions for tomorrow, believing that there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
• Be still: We will be quiet so as to detect signs of the Holy Spirit in ourselves and in our midst. We will find ways to be more spiritual and prayerful in our worship and in our many activities.

Witnessing and Acting in God's World

We believe in God's grace, and our response is to act in God's world. We follow in the Wesleyan tradition: "Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world."

As we witness and act in the world, we will:

• Listen: We will listen for God's call in our lives. We will help each person to discern God's individual call and offer opportunities for response.
• Accept: We will welcome all those who enter into our midst as gifts from God. We will nourish them with the Word and all forms of spiritual food.
• Minister: Following the example of Jesus Christ, we will work in solidarity with people who suffer poverty and oppression in our city, our country and our world. We will develop our ministry to be in accord with our resources and we will be vigilant to changing needs.
• Be leaven to the church: We will be a sign of hope in a troubled world. We will rise to support our visions, accepting the struggle involved, and we will challenge ourselves and other churches to live out God's love.
• Appreciate: We will recognize Christ in each other. At our feast, we will welcome everyone, no matter how great or small their needs.
• Be good stewards: We will respect God's creation. We will be caretakers of our environment, our history, and our building and will raise the consciousness of all in conserving resources in our world.
• Seek God: We look toward the day when God reigns on earth. We will burst the old wineskins to overflowing with the new wine. We will craft new wineskins to hold the new wine of justice and love.

Conclusion

We believe we are a people called and empowered by God. We struggle to discern God's vision for us. With our strong lay and clergy leadership we work to balance our spirituality and our social action. We seek to be open to the risks of change; we strive to be agents of change. We desire to act on what the Lord requires: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.