the mission of our vermont church - dwell missional community
Let's get missional
There is perhaps no other word that expresses the unique identity of Dwell better than the word "missional." Even as we seek to be a relational community, we don't do it just for our own sake but for the sake of our city and the world. That is, we want a community; but we especially want a missional community.
Our understanding of our community as missional comes from our understanding of God himself: that he is a missional God. In fact, as we live as missional people in the city of Burlington, we are joining in the mission of God, the missio Dei. Here again is theologian Scott McKnight:
"The guiding theme is the notion of missio Dei: God is a missionary God, the church is mission, and the church has no mission but the "mission of God." Another way of saying this is that there is a church because of the missio Dei, which draws the church into God's missional work of redemption. In the words of David Bosch, 'Missio Dei enunciates the good news that God is a God-for-people.' God's people inevitably become a community-for-people as they participate in the missio Dei" (A Community Called Atonement, p. 135).
It is our determined mission to be a community-for-people in the city of Burlington (and the whole world). We want to focus on bringing the gospel of Jesus in the context of our culture, becoming all things to all people in order to save some. And we want to back up our message with authentic deeds of justice and compassion to reach those in need and those on the fringes - because when we lovingly serve "the least of these" we are serving Jesus himself.
Our mission takes us to four different areas: North St., College St., Downtown, and Global Ave.