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By JOHN R. SCHOL
Bishop of the Baltimore-Washington Conference

If the conference went out of business tomorrow, would we be missed? If your congregation went out of business tomorrow, would it be missed by more than those that worship with you?

Do we have a compelling enough mission that demands we stay in 'business?' Mission is our reason for existing. The mission of a hospital is to save lives. The mission of a police force is to protect lives. Both of these institutions would be missed if they went out of existence because they have a mission that is critical to the life of the community. Their mission is not just a statement, but a daily encounter with the people they serve.

I?m afraid that the reality is, there would be people who would miss the conference, but it would not be as devastating as losing other organizations. We have churches that would hardly be missed in their community if they closed their doors tomorrow.

What happened to the compelling mission of the Church that was so critical in the first century or so stimulating in the days of early Methodism? The mission of our denomination, The United Methodist Church, is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

The vision of the Baltimore-Washington Conference is being shaped around that denominational vision ? to Call, equip, send and support disciples of Jesus Christ to change individuals, congregations, communities and the world.

As we begin to fully carry out this mission through our congregations it will be life changing. We will be missed by individuals, communities and the world if we go out of existence.

The challenge before us is to make these words of our mission statement leap off the page and into our hearts. We will need to become so passionate about this vision that it drives all of our decisions, dollars, staff and activities. It is only through this complete dedication that we will become valuable to our communities and the world.

Think with me for a moment what this mission-- Call, equip, send and support disciples of Jesus Christ to change individuals, congregations, communities and the world -- really means.

? To call is to invite people to be a disciple of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world and to pursue God?s calling for their life. It is saying to every individual, 'You were created for a purpose and we want to walk with you in uncovering the wonderful life God has in store for you.'

? To equip is to teach, train, model and coach people, how to become more like Christ and pursue God?s calling for their life.

? To send is to release people for ministry in the world.

? To support is to help people reflect on their ministry experience, encourage them in the midst of their ministry experience and invite them to continue to grow in their relationship with God.

? To change individuals, congregations, communities and the world is, in the words of. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, 'spreading scriptural holiness.' This involved both personal holiness (personal transformation) and social holiness (changing society to reflect the kingdom of God).

This is a mission that will be missed if we no longer existed. We are seeing this mission alive and well in a number of places already:

? Our Deaf ministry supports congregations and ministries that is life changing for more than 1,000 Deaf people. If we did not exist, most of those we minister with would slip through the cracks because the Deaf community is an under-served population.

? If Carpenter?s Kitchen ministry, through Mount Vernon Place UMC in Baltimore closed, hundreds of homeless people would be stranded.

? If Camina Del Vida in Gaithersburg closed day workers and a number of new Christians would not have a supportive community to support them in their new and growing relationship with God.

? If Paw Paw UMC in West Virginia closed, a community would lose a valuable asset that encourages peoples lives, feeds children and provides educational support for young people.

How would the world be impacted if our conference and all of our churches committed to becoming catalysts to call, equip, send and support disciples of Jesus Christ to change individuals, congregations, communities and the world? We would begin to transform the world.