Members of a United Methodist Church and congregation commit themselves "to faithfully participate in its ministries by their prayers, their presence, their gifts, and their service."  These are intertwined in life and give us balance as we live our lives as a witness for Christ and to one another.  The Christian life involves specific and concrete commitment.  When needs are placed before us - whether it is helping to provide Sunday School curriculum for a children's class, or supporting a missionary in another country, or supporting a person grieving the loss of a loved one - the opportunity is always to each one of us, not to a few.  We can be sure that the Holy Spirit will challenge and stretch us individually and as a congregation to respond faithfully, and we ask each person to prayerfully consider their part.  We believe God is amazingly creative in the way He invites us to be in ministry with Him. 
 

OUR PRAYERS - This includes teaching and encouraging you to learn how to pray both in private and in worship; to read and meditate on the prayers in Scriptures, especially the Book of Psalms; to pray with faith in many kinds of situations; to pray the Scriptures; to see prayer as a lifestyle as well as an intentional time.
 

OUR PRESENCE - This includes being regular in study, fellowship, worship, and outreach to others.  We strive to include in our fellowship all persons including the homebound and the mentally or physically disabled.  It means attending congregational meetings when all of us have to make a decision that affects our ministry; it means being there for people who are celebrating or grieving, and offering to help in a ministry that nurtures others, or reaches out in the community, or in sharing your faith in Christ.  It is the gift of your personality.  There are ways to be present for Christ and for others, if you have to work on Sunday or do not have a lot of spare time.
 

OUR GIFTS - This includes our talents, time, treasures, and abilities. It means financial faithfulness, giving cheerfully and sacrificially; recognizing that the earth is the Lord's and we are called to be good stewards, knowing that the Lord will one day see what we have done with all that He has given us; it means being willing to grow in faith.  It means valuing the gift of Life and the Eternal Life given to us by Christ and being a reliable person with the Truth of Christ. 
 

OUR SERVICE - We believe that Christ saved us for Abundant Life here and that this Life continues when we go to Heaven; it means our lives are not primarily about us, but others for whom Christ died; it means our Love for God and our fellow man issues forth in serving others; that Personal Holiness is just as morally and ethically important as Social Holiness, or Justice For All People; it is a life woven in humility and victory.
 

Adapted from Our Membership Vows  in the United Methodist Church by Mark W. Stamm and copyright by Discipleship Resources.