AT MIDDLETON CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH (MCC)
WE SEEK TO LIVE A LIFE ON MISSION, FOLLOWING CHRIST, TOGETHER IN COMMUNITY.
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God is a missionary God.
The Father sent the Son to redeem the world, and the Father and Son sent the Holy Spirt to continue his redemptive mission through his Church. Therefore, mission is not something we “do”; it is our primary vocation as the gathered and scattered church. Every Christian is in ministry and on mission; it is only the specific outworking and day-by-day expressions and challenges of this that may differ. God cares about every part and parcel of our lives and wants to enter into all of it. We believe He has gifted and positioned his Church to be used for His Kingdom mission in each everyday moment.
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We are called to follow Jesus as Whole-Life Disciples.
Following Jesus encompasses our whole-life and is a life-long process. Following every moment, every place, every season of our life is an opportunity for us to respond to Jesus’ invitation to “come follow Me.” This includes our work and play, our social life and inner life, and our physical, emotional, mental and our spiritual health. It touches on our relationships—with family, friends, neighbors, co-workers—and on our habits. It encompasses our politics and cultural engagement, the way we spend our time and money, and our spiritual formation. There is no “graduating” from this discipleship. It is an all-inclusive invitation to join the Holy Spirit in Kingdom work of proclaiming the gospel in word and deed. This sort of discipleship defies any implicit or explicit sacred-secular divide, which suggest some things matter to God and others do not. Our mundane, ordinary life matters to God because He is redeeming all things. It also affirms that there is no hierarchy of callings, in which some people are doing “spiritual” work and others are not.
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As those created in the image of God, made for relationship, as a Kingdom community, we value “doing life” together.
We value being “real” with one another- extending grace-filled love, and accountability. We value biblical peacemaking, forgiveness, and reconciliation. We seek to encourage one another with God’s Word, in prayer, hospitality and partaking of the Lord’s Supper with one another.
