What does membership at Kearney First UMC look like?
Together, as Kearney First UMC, we seek to live into our covenant guided by our mission: "Love God. Love our neighbors. Make disciples of Jesus Christ." We further seek to live into the historic General Rules of Methodist Societies: Avoid evil and do no harm; Do all the good you can; and Attend to the Ordinances of God (or stay in love with God).
Membership at Kearney First UMC is an official agreement between you and the church. You are proclaiming your faith in Jesus Christ and are making a commitment to love and serve God. You are also making a commitment to support the church and its ministries. In turn, the church commits to uphold and support you by walking with you through your faith journey, uphold you in prayer, studying/worshiping with you, and proclaiming God's good news of salvation to others. Check out the United Methodist Church's official website below for more information on the denomination as a whole or scroll down for key elements of membership here at Kearney First UMC.
Covenant Vows of Membership at Kearney First UMC
The membership vows within Kearney First UMC are rooted in our baptismal covenant in which we proclaim that we are initiated into Christ's holy church, incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation through Jesus, and given new birth by water and the Spirit. All of this is God's gift, offered to us without price.
In essence, these vows recognize the deepest truth of our lives: God is love and God is grace. In this, we believe that life depends on, is a gift from, and is sustained by God's love and grace. We profess faith, and subsequently, membership in a church, by making vows to God to live in response to God's grace within a particular relationship with a particular people. These vows take the form of a covenant - a faith-based promise and commitment - between us and God and a particular people, who by God's grace in Jesus through the Spirit, are called God's people and family.
Five Essential, Constitutie Practices of Our Christian Lives
The five practices of the seventh membership covenant vow are essential means of experiencing and responding to God's grace. They're also constitutive, that is, through them, God makes us into who we proclaim to be by God's grace: the body of Christ, followers of Jesus and participants in God's saving mission in the world. We name them in the liturgy as "prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness," but here's another, clearer way we think about them. However, here's one cavet: these marks or practices of membership are aspirational, meaning they're goals to grow into or aspire to. They're practices of a life of growth in holiness or Christ-likeness, in which we start wherever we are, and by God's grace, we grow.
Want to Join Kearney First UMC?
We hold a membership or "Methods" class in the Fall for all who wish to join Kearney First UMC or want a refresher on what it means to be a member of the United Methodist Church. Additional classes are available as needed.
Click the link below to sign up for a Methods class or contact one of our pastors for more information!