The Mission Statement of Dapto Uniting has been confirmed at Mission Planning Workshops held in 2022 and continues as part of our Mission Plan 2023-2025.
One way of looking at how Mission is defined in Dapto Uniting Church (DUC) is to have an extensive look at this Mission Statement.
When we established our Mission Statement in July 2009, we included the word “seeking” to convey the concept that we are on a journey, we are “a pilgrim people”. We are not claiming to have arrived, but our focus is on becoming. The Mission Statement is what the Congregation decided would be our focus, and all our activities are intended to be conducted in accordance with fulfilling our vision.
This phrase is intended to affirm the concept that a light should not be hidden. Our activity is only intentional if it is obvious. We are desiring to be a witness to the love and grace of our God, sharing in obvious ways that love and grace to all the people we encounter.
"Followers" involves the concept of discipleship. We are followers in the sense that we copy the actions of, listen to the teaching of, and are empowered by the One whom we are following.
It is Jesus Christ, our Saviour, and the Son of God and Word of God whom we are following. Jesus is the embodiment of the eternal God sharing our human existence. He is our power source, our motivation, and our example.
Our mission is one of action and of accomplishment. We pray, we seek guidance, we consult, and then we do. Our working involves our practical involvement, but also for those areas we do not have the resources to reach ourselves, we share our financial support to other organisations who are also working in and for the community.
There are two aspects of our active mission. We see ourselves as part of the community and our focus is on the community.
When we selected our Mission Statement, there was much discussion about who "the community" are. We decided at the time that “community” had the widest possible meaning. It encompasses our church community, our local community, our state community, our national community, and the world community. There are no geographical, religious, social, gender or racial limits to those for whom we are working.