Welcome to Embury

Celebrating 150 years of Loving God and our Community 1869 - 2019

You are always welcome. Embury is warm and friendly in its truest sense. But then again it is to be experienced, not promoted. In this age of super stores and super sizes, we are not embarrassed that we are small. In fact, we believe it is one of our strengths where you feel more like part of a caring family, not part of a "congregation." Most importantly, at Embury, it's all about growing disciples, not adding members. It's not about maintaining our facility but it's about loving our neighbors and loving God. (Mark 12:30-31) You are always welcome!

Visioning Update – April, 2014

The Vision Team met on April 9, 2014 after reading “church3.0 upgrades for the future of the church”, by Neil Cole author of “Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens”. During the meeting, the team read and discussed “A Message from the Bishop” Part 2—From 14-41% “Static to Vitality” and The Golden Circle developed by Simon Sinek. Our readings brought us to our discussion focused on God’s mission and the concepts of a Missional church, an Attractional church, and an Institutional church.[break][break] The team’s discussion regarding God’s mission led us to the understanding that God’s mission is to expand the kingdom of God in this world through Jesus Christ. Sharing the stories of Jesus Christ can help more people grow and mature in faith and thus experience a relationship with God.[break][break] To further determine what type of church Embury is at present and what Embury should strive to be in the future, the team discussed the characteristics of Missional, Attractional, and Institutional churches. An Attractional church waits for people to enter its doors where they are generally welcomed and encouraged to become members while the Missional church goes outside the walls of the building to reach the people.  Institutionalization occurs in a church when the focus is solely on maintaining status quo such as staffing, paying the bills, programs, policies, and staying opened. In this case, it could be said that the church, the building and programs become the idol instead of Jesus Christ.  Functioning as it presently, Embury could be described as an Attractional as well as an Institutional church.[break][break] At our next meeting, the team will define a statement of purpose or mission for the future of Embury.  Once that is in place, plans for how we will work to achieve that mission will be developed.  The team plans to meet 2 more times and then will present to the congregation on June 8, 2014 some specific plans and timelines for each.[break][break] If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact any member of the vision team.  A loan of any of the readings can be obtained from Lynn Scott.  Once again, thank you for your support.[break][break] Embury Vision Team