Our Mission

God invites us to relationship and participation in God’s loving work as part of a community. Our response is our mission: to share Christ’s reconciling love with our communities and the world.

Our Covenant

At North Baltimore Mennonite Church, we have a shared commitment to the life of faith together, expressed as a relational covenant. This “we statement” describes the welcoming and inclusive community we strive to be with God’s guidance. By saying we are in this together, we affirm and encourage one another in our individual journeys, integrated with our collective experience, built on a rich tradition of faith and scripture. 

The term or idea of a covenant can be triggering for many. Often, this type of document is used to exert power, control, or exclusion (defining who is in or out). Our covenant commitment is not to a specific set of beliefs or prescribed actions to which each person must subscribe to belong. Rather, it is a commitment to one another. For this reason,we have maintained the term covenant, which literally means “to come together.” We believe this is a sacred opportunity.

Covenant Commitment

Our covenant describes our understanding of who God wants us to be, and the community that we are choosing to be part of together. Our commitment is to participate actively in this church community where Jesus is the center of our faith, our faith is grown in community, and together we actively seek God’s shalom.

Jesus is the center of our faith

• We rejoice in God the creator and sustainer of our world. God has an irresistible love for all people and seeks a relationship with each of us.

• We believe Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus taught and demonstrated how we can live well in relationship with God, others, and creation. We recognize a diversity of beliefs about Jesus, even as we collectively make Jesus our center. 

• We love, learn from, and follow Jesus. Jesus served others and gave up his own life as an act of love on behalf of all, was raised from the dead, and gave the Spirit to restore and empower all of creation to full and eternal life.

• We grow in submitting all areas of our lives to Jesus’ teaching and authority, declaring that Jesus alone is Lord, but also calls us friends. We celebrate baptism as a symbol of our commitment to follow Jesus.  

Our faith is grown in community

• We profess that all people are made in God’s image, worthy of love and created for relationship with God, others, and creation. God invites all to full participation in the beloved community. We also welcome and affirm every person, particularly those who are or have been historically excluded from or hurt by the Church.

• We make ourselves available to one another and acknowledge our need for each other to live a healthy life of faith. We come as we are, encouraging and accepting questions, vulnerability, and honesty.

• We believe that the Spirit empowers the community to pray, worship, interpret scripture, discern God’s invitations, and lead one another through mutual accountability. All are gifted for ministry in our shared life of faith.

• We offer ourselves and our time, resources, and talents for the common good. We grow through practicing hospitality, generosity, simplicity, care, service, and forgiveness with one another.

• Our church is part of the Anabaptist Mennonite tradition of the Christian Church. We share history and active relationships with the wider family of faith, while living as a unique expression for our time and place.

Together we actively seek God’s shalom

• In knowing and experiencing God’s love, we in turn love God, everyone, and everything through words and actions. We partner with God in God’s work of restoring all of creation to interdependent harmonious relationships through Jesus.

• We work for the liberation, healing, justice, and wholeness of individuals, systems, and all of creation. We also acknowledge the hurts that have been done, especially by the Church, and seek to repair these wrongs.

• We build peace in our lives, neighborhoods, and city, as well as on national and international levels. We strive for creative, nonviolent solutions to conflicts and reject any involvement in or endorsement of killing, war, or violence.

• We approach ministry primarily through intentional presence, loving relationship, and humble service. Just as we are followers of Jesus, we invite others to this journey too.

We need each other to live this life of faith as we understand it, and commit to help one another in this faith journey. This is who we aspire to be together. This is who we are becoming, with God’s help. 

Commitment Process

Everyone who sees themself as part of the community and has reflected on this shared covenant is invited to make this relational commitment. All of those who are currently committed to actively living the church covenant together are considered church members.

Those new to this commitment meet with representatives from the church elders and pastors to share their faith story, ask any questions, and pray in preparation for making the covenant commitment with the community. The elders will ask all members if they wish to continue their commitment on an annual basis. The elders will also coordinate a yearly opportunity for members to affirm their commitment with one another.

Members share in decision-making and leadership of the community as we live our shared commitments. A more detailed and formal description of the rights and responsibilities of membership is found in the church constitution and bylaws.