Vision: Reach the Tri-State Region & Beyond for God’s Kingdom by making fully devoted followers of Jesus.  

Mission: Take our next steps toward Christ, together!

FMC Team Values: Values describe how we will behave as we accomplish our vision, mission, strategy, and endstate. Our values are not so much about getting into the endzone, but rather more about HOW we score. Team values apply to our pastors, elders, deacons, staff, leaders, volunteers, and covenant partners. Each of us must be committed to lead in each of these regards and be accountable to them as they will ultimately define our culture. Without stating them, the Tri-State Region and FMC should be able to recognize these values by how we behave. FMC has ten team values.

Value 1: Kneel before we run

This value is listed first intentionally. Everything we do must begin from a place of desperation for and dependence on God. We have a race to run, but we must kneel in submission and devotion to God before we begin. Often ministry can become a distraction from our personal walk with the Lord. Soon we’ve sacrificed intimacy for productivity. Instead, our number one priority is to begin everything with prayer and submission flowing from a genuine heart for God.
KEY WORDS: DEPENDENCE, PRAYER, WORSHIP

Value 2: Sharpen the axe

Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.” Achieving our vision is a massive undertaking, and to see it realized, we must become effective tools for God’s Kingdom. We must maintain our health and wellness spiritually, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and relationally. We must also constantly be learning and growing to increase our effectiveness over time.
KEY WORDS: HEALTH, GROWTH, FITNESS

Value 3: Stretch it out

We want our team to be agile and athletic, quickly and effectively responding to the unexpected and spontaneous. In fact, we want to move beyond being OK with change and eventually be able to leverage change as a tool that helps us accomplish our mission. Along with this speed and flexibility, it’s important for us to embrace candid feedback and evaluation so we can be even more effective the next time around. KEY WORDS: FLEXIBILITY, AGILITY, ADAPTATION

Value 4: Embrace the hill

Runners often dread hills along their route and most view them as a place to slow down. But a healthy, well-trained runner sees the hill as an opportunity to pass people and actually take ground. We want our team to function in this way. We should expect all kinds of challenges and opposition as we strive to accomplish our God-given vision. When those times come, we will choose to have a joyful mindset that is motivated by challenge rather than dismayed by it.
KEY WORDS: GRIT, RESILIENCE, RESOURCEFULNESS

Value 5: Wash windows

The heart of this value is humility and ownership. No one at FMC is too good to wash windows – or even someone else’s feet for that matter. Each FMC leader must own every piece of FMC (right down to the windows). This kind of ownership leads to excellence. If you see something and think, “Someone should do something about that,” then that someone is you! Always try to see through the eyes of a guest and never think, “That’s not my problem.” We must constantly be striving to improve the things we see around us. All of us must be willing to engage in the menial tasks down to washing our windows. KEY WORDS: OWNERSHIP, EXCELLENCE

Value 6: Build the bench

To reach the Tri-State Region & Beyond, we must be committed to reproducing our capacity exponentially. We must constantly strive to lead more and do less. None of us are the Lone Ranger. Instead, we’re looking to build a team of people to serve alongside us, so we can multiply skills and expertise. Similarly, we must be able to scale our processes and systems so that we can accommodate the growing body of Christ who are called to serve: we must build redundancy into our capability so that there is no single point of failure on the team.
KEY WORDS: MULTIPLICATION, RECRUITMENT, DEVELOPMENT

Value 7: Laugh out loud (LOL)

Laugh out loud! Have fun. As we work, have fun. As we serve, have fun. We want to be a team that laughs together. This is something that we must be intentional about. Fun must not only be allowed for but planned for. During meetings, we want laughter to be commonplace. We want to be the kind of team that laughs frequently during meetings, a team that isn’t always serious and sour, a team that dances at each other’s weddings. This is one of the most important values.
KEY WORDS: LAUGHTER, FUN, MORALE

Value 8: Protect this house

This speaks to communication and relationship. It’s all about unity and commitment to Christ. Those are the things that protect us from the enemy. It’s easy to dismiss negative comments that we think or hear others speak. Instead, let us stop and say, “No! That is dangerous and cannot continue.” We will never allow triangulation, where we talk to a third party about an issue we are having with someone. Instead, we will always go to that person individually first. Moreover, we will hold each other accountable to do the same. KEY WORDS: COMMUNICATION, HONOR, LOYALTY, UNITY

Value 9: Take it on the chin

As FMC team members, we’re not going to make excuses. Instead, we will own whatever feedback, criticism, or issue has arisen. We will take responsibility, apologize if needed, and act to remedy any shortcomings rather than trying to escape from ownership even in the face of problems and challenges. Not only will each of us be open to feedback and constructive criticism; we will actively invite it. And when we give feedback, we will do it with grace.
KEY WORDS: RESPONSIBILITY, FEEDBACK, THICK-SKINNED, DISCERNMENT

Value 10: Play motion offense

In basketball, motion offense is a fluid approach where the players are always moving and always aware of where each other are. It only works if the team is in tune maintaining complete awareness. We want our team to be anticipating each other’s moves and needs even before they happen. We will fight against silos and work to complement what other team members are doing. KEY WORDS: AWARENESS, COLLABORATION, RESPONSIVENESS

How We Live out our Mission:

CELEBRATE

We celebrate God’s sovereignty and goodness as we glorify Him, enjoy Him, and live a life of worshipping Him.

CONNECT

CONTRIBUTE

Throughout the Tri-State Region & Beyond… the Glory of God is honored, intimacy with Jesus is treasured, the Holy Spirit’s fruit ripens in believers’ lives, the holiness of God is revered, the goodness of God is relished, the truth of God is pursued, the faithfulness of God is trusted, the promises of God are believed, the grace of God is cherished, the wrath of God is feared, the commandments of God are obeyed, humility abounds, the lost are found, repentance and gratitude flow, praise and prayer erupt, lives and communities are transformed, love and joy fill hearts, freedom and forgiveness overwhelm, barriers are broken down, the hungry are fed, marriages are restored, families are reunited, and prodigals come home!