"The church participates in God's mission to the world..."

(Book of Order, W-7.1001)

It is God's mission (missio dei) in the world in which the church participates. At First Presbyterian Church, Wichita Falls, we seek to discern where God is at work in our world and then to join in God's work with compassion and love.

We begin by seeking to be the people God has called us to be. Our constitution says, "The Church of Jesus Christ is the provisional demonstration of what God intends for all of humanity" (Book of Order, G-3.0200). We want our life together to reflect the Kingdom of God (God's active reign) and its values. Jesus said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35, NRSV).

But the mission of God does not stop there. God sends the church into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit...

to tell all nations and peoples of Christ's call to repentance, faith, and obedience,

to exercise compassion,

to share with Christ in establishing God's just, peaceable, and loving rule, and

to participate in God's work of creation and preservation.

The church's ministries of evangelism and caring for creation, of compassion and reconciliation are signs of God's reign and offer hope in the midst of life-denying situations.

Whether through the missionaries we support in Korea, Romania, and Russia,

or through mission engagement in planting churches with e3 Partners, in serving Native America through On Eagles' Wings, in building homes in Mexico with Constructores para Cristo,

or through the local ministries of Presbyterian Children's Homes, Partners in Education, Interfaith Ministries, Faith Mission, and Habitat for Humanity...

...we seek to follow the living Word, Jesus Christ, into the world, and we look to the day when every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).