Vision & Mission

First Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg
Vision, Mission, Values, and Welcoming Statement
Approved by the FPC Session
on August 27, 2018                                         

Our Vision

As children of God and followers of Jesus Christ, we are inspired by the Holy Spirit to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God who abides within each of us and all of our neighbors.

Our Mission

Do Justice

• We provide for the needs of our neighbors with material and emotional support.

• We share our energy and resources with others working toward a common vision of justice in our world. 

• We advocate for the common good of all in our local, state, national, and global communities. 

• We honor God by being good stewards of our resources and the environment.

Love Kindness

• We build relationships that transform lives, including our own.

• We will be there for members and friends of our beloved community in times of celebration and in times of challenge.

• We enthusiastically and genuinely welcome all children of God as full and equal members of our community or as honored guests.

• We give witness to God’s love for us by loving all of our neighbors and teaching our young ones about a God Who Is Love.

Walk Humbly with God

• We continually learn more about and deepen our faith with open minds and hearts as we grow into the people God created us to be.

• We glorify God through our worship, which unites us as the family of Christ and engages us with the Spirit who moves through the wider church.

Our Values

• Rooted in the Reformed Christian tradition, we are open to new ideas and inspiration.

• Scripture reveals the living Word of God which transforms our lives.

• Dynamic worship brings us closer to God and to one another.

• Music and art are gifts from God which enrich our faith life.

• We continually learn more about our faith and the human experience.

• We respect and welcome each person as a beloved child of God.

• We welcome children and support all families.

• We promote peace and justice for the common good.

• We denounce the insidious evils of racism, sexism, ableism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and any other form of bigotry.

• We live out our faith daily in our families, workplaces, and other communities.

• We are determined to be hopeful.

Welcoming Statement

With open arms, we welcome all people into our faith community as members or friends. Our welcome extends to all children of God including those of any gender, race, age, country of origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, ethnic heritage, ability or disability, educational status, marital status, military veteran status, immigrant status, economic status, health status, mental health status, cultural background, religious background, or any other human condition. We welcome people of all faiths and no faith as honored guests. 

Feel free to be yourself here, for you are loved.

Guiding Scriptures

What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  (Micah 6: 8)

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.  (John 13: 34-35)

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.  (1 John 4: 16)

Now to God who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  (Ephesians 3: 20-21)