Core Values describe who we are and want to become as a congregation. These are the things that guide our congregational priorities and help us focus our time and energy.

PMC is a community of faith that values:

• Centrality Of Christ – as followers of Jesus Christ who is our Savior, Lord, and Model for life, we respect the variety of cultures and denominational traditions among us, as we seek to love God with all our being and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
• Anabaptist/Mennonite Perspective – we value interpreting life and faith from the perspective of our Mennonite Confession of Faith as we seek to pray and work for the unity of Christ’s body in our community and around the world.
• Making Disciples – we seek to be spiritual friends with our neighbors, to share the hope we have in Christ in gentle and respectful ways, and we enthusiastically welcome visitors and newcomers into our congregational life.
• Christian Peacemaking – we accept God’s call to resist evil nonviolently and to work for peace in our homes, community, church, and world.
• New Humanity – we seek to live into God’s new humanity that is being formed by Christ that overcomes the human barriers of race, class, culture, economics, and gender.
• Environment Of Grace – we seek to create a safe place where we treat one another with respect, a readiness to forgive, and an eagerness to look for the best in each other as God’s grace enables us to give grace to one another.
• Spiritual Journey – a vibrant spiritual life with Christ grows when we intentionally nurture an “inward journey” through prayer and worship and an “outward journey” through service to others.
• Equipping For Service – with the church being a center for mission and ministry our vision is to pay attention to the gifts and calling of people in our midst and then to release them for ministry.
• Participatory Worship – our worship service seeks to include the gifts of all, a blend of Christian musical traditions, language which affirms that the personhood of God embraces all that is male and female, and elements which call us back to our identity as God’s people.
• Caring Community – we seek to be real in relationships as we support each other in our Christian journey and as we seek to be a loving place where our neighbors feel welcome to explore their faith and find a place to belong.
• Commitment To The Poor – God invites us into relationship with the poor of our world, to work for justice, and to share our resources in a way that every person’s dignity is affirmed and everyone has enough.
• Stewardship Of Resources – we value mutual aid, caring for creation, generous giving, Sabbath rest, and being faithful managers of all that we are and have in service to God and neighbor.

Pittsburgh Mennonite Church Core Values
Affirmed June 10, 2005

1. Centrality of Christ.

At the center of our congregational life is the understanding that Jesus Christ is the complete expression of God’s life and love on earth. In Jesus, God has acted to restore human beings to the life of wholeness that God purposed in creation. In all that we do as a church our focal point is on Jesus Christ as our Savior, Lord, and Model for life. With Jesus’ life as our model, we respect the variety of cultures, backgrounds, ages, and denominational traditions that make up PMC. Additionally, we seek to respect one another’s differences as we search the scriptures together with humility and openness to the Holy Spirit, seeking balance and mutual understanding. As followers of Jesus Christ, we welcome all people to join us on this journey of “loving God with all our being and loving our neighbors as ourselves”. At PMC we seek to take these two commandments that Jesus taught – “loving God with all our being” and “loving our neighbor as ourselves” as our mission (Matthew 22: 36-40). Our mission, with the help of the Holy Spirit, is focused on living out these commandments and not getting caught up in endless questions and controversies that can divide us as Christians and distract us from our mission (2 Timothy 2:23-24).

2. Anabaptist/Mennonite Perspective.

As a Mennonite Church our roots go back 500 years to the sixteenth century reformation period and the Anabaptist movement. Our church today is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA through a regional body – Allegheny Mennonite Conference. As a congregation we affirm the “Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective” that was adopted by the larger Mennonite Church in 1995. We desire to be connected with the larger Mennonite Church for resources, pastoral oversight, accountability, fellowship, mission, and mutual aid. While we appreciate our rich cultural heritage, what we value most is interpreting life and faith from the perspective of our Mennonite Confession of Faith, and not being bound to the cultural and ethnic practices of our tradition. Our primary relationship is with the larger Mennonite Church, including the global Mennonite community, because of similar core values and beliefs, but we also value our dialogue with other believers and congregations in the larger Christian Church as we continually discern faithful expressions of what it means to be Christian in our world. Jesus prayed for the “unity of his followers” in John 17:20-21 and we will continue to pray and work for the unity of Christ’s body in our community and around the world.

3. Making Disciples.

In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) Jesus said, “As you go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”. We believe that we are a people who have been sent on a mission by Jesus. Our mission is to be disciples of Christ and to make disciples, to learn to live as Jesus teaches, and to influence others to do so as well. Our focus is on a holistic disciple-making process where we invite people into a relationship with Christ and to a life of discipleship and spiritual growth. We actively seek to be spiritual friends and companions with the people we encounter on a daily basis and we enthusiastically welcome visitors and newcomers into our congregational life.

4. Christian Peacemaking

Jesus calls us to “love our enemies” and to “overcome evil with good”. Jesus refused to let his disciples use violence to defend him and he even forgave his enemies while he was on the cross. In the cross, Jesus not only shows us how God deals with his enemies and sets the model for all believers, but God also takes the initiative to make peace with us. Jesus has reconciled us to God in order to stop our warring madness. In humility we accept God’s call to be peacemakers. For PMC, peacemaking involves helping people be reconciled to God and each other, stopping the cycle of violence by refusing to use violence or participate in military service, working for alternatives to violent resolution of conflict on personal and national levels, serving the poor and needy, and taking risks to work actively for justice and mercy for all people. The Holy Spirit empowers us to forgive rather than to seek revenge, to practice right relationships, and to resist evil nonviolently. At PMC we recognize conflict as a normal part of human life and church life. Conflict is neither a sin nor something we need to be ashamed of or have to run from. Jesus assumed that conflict would be part of church life and so he gave us a process and some practical skills to follow in dealing with conflict (Matthew 18: 15-22). Sooner or later, each one of us will experience hurt feelings, misunderstandings, disappointments, and failures in relationships that need to be worked through. While these can be difficult, Jesus promises to be there with us (Matthew 18:20) and to help us work through our conflicts and find healing and reconciliation. In being part of this church we commit ourselves to go directly to those who offend or hurt us, to practice careful listening, to ask for mediation in dealing with unresolved conflicts, and to seek for genuine reconciliation in all relationships.

5. New Humanity.

Jesus came announcing the arrival of the “reign of God” and invited us to be part of a new humanity drawn from all races and nations. We know that race, class, culture, economics, and gender often divide Christians. At PMC we seek to live into this new humanity that is being formed by Christ (Galatians 3:28) that breaks down all of these human barriers. We view each other not from a human perspective, but from the viewpoint of a new relationship with Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) that transforms all our relationships and ways of doing things. We affirm the gifts and calling of both women and men in ministry and leadership. We are committed to building relationships with people across socio-economic lines. We seek to address and change attitudes, behaviors, and structures that deny opportunities and power to people because of the color of their skin. We are an anti-racist church that values racial and cultural diversity. We know that overcoming these human barriers is not easy, but by the power of God’s Spirit at work among us we seek to demonstrate the oneness of the Body of Christ with the diversity of all its parts.

6. Environment of Grace.

We understand that the good things that happen in our church are a result of God’s grace at work among us and in us. The way we treat one another is always the truest test of our credibility in what we say we believe. When we treat one another with respect, unconditional love, a servant attitude, a readiness to forgive, and an eagerness to look for the best in each other, we will witness a revolutionary transformation of our life and the lives around us. We seek to create a safe place by living without facades and pretense. We know we will stumble and make mistakes. We confess our sins to each other and we try to learn from our failures. The freedom to fail makes it possible for people to be bold in trying new things, venturing forth into the unknown more confidently, and walking by faith more securely. An environment of grace brings freedom because we know that we can expect a caring response from others without condemnation or ridicule. Grace from God enables us to give grace to others in the same loving way we would want them to respond to us.

7. Spiritual Journey

We believe that the best context for a transforming relationship with Jesus is one that stresses both an “inner journey” of contemplation, prayer, worship, and study and an “outward expression” of that journey in service to the world. We refuse to choose one over the other. At PMC we want to experience a vibrant spiritual life with Christ through all the stages of life. We don’t believe that Christians reach some plateau of “maturity” where they coast until they reach heaven. We believe every life-stage, from the youngest to the oldest, is an opportunity to experience God in new ways and to deepen our love relationship with Christ. The inner journey is nourished through spiritual disciplines or habits such as prayer, fasting, feasting, fellowship, meditation, journaling, silence, reading scripture, corporate worship, and so forth. As we intentionally open ourselves to God’s love and grace through these disciplines, we will continue to grow and be transformed into the image of Christ. The outward journey is nourished as we put our faith into action. Jesus said he did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:25-28). Just as Jesus washed his disciple’s feet, so we are called to a life of service in our homes, church, and community. Through the simplest acts of service, the smallest words of kindness, and the most ordinary deeds of love we open the doors to God’s reign in the world and to having our spiritual lives transformed.

8. Equipping for Service

The local church is a center for mission and ministry. We consider every person a minister of the gospel. Pastors are not paid to do the ministry but to equip people for ministry and reaching out to their neighbors (Ephesians 4:11-13). The church gathers to worship God and to be equipped for effective ministry in the normal, everyday activities of working, playing, and raising families. We value taking our faith, in word and deed, into the community and being a witness to the reign of God breaking into our world. Our church ministries grow out of an individual’s call from God that has been affirmed by others in the church. As a base for ministry, our vision is to pay attention to the gifts and calling of people in our midst, and then to release them for ministry. We are open to try new things (and fail) or to stop those ministries that have served for a valuable season of our congregational life but whose priorities or goals have now changed. We value ministries that grow out of our congregational life, reflect our values, and serve the people around us.

9. Participatory Worship

Worship is our principal vocation as Christians because we are created to be in relationship with God. Our worship service is a coming together to celebrate God’s acts among us through singing, drama, dance, visuals, preaching, and congregational sharing. We value a blend of Christian musical traditions. Our focus is on finding music that enriches our worship theme and leads us into God’s presence. We value an experiential and participatory worship style that seeks to include the gifts of our congregation. Children are given opportunities to participate in worship and we value their presence. We value a time of sharing that builds up the Body of Christ where people can give a word of encouragement, share an insight from scripture, tell how God is at work in their life, or ask for prayer (1 Corinthians 14:26). We value the use of language in worship which affirms that the personhood of God embraces all that is male and female, and that men and women are one in Christ. Our worship, with all it many parts, is meant to call us back to our identity as people of God and to equip us for service in Christ’s name.

10. Caring Community

We seek a balance between mission and community. We pursue our mission through community, and we experience community as we pursue our mission. This balance is essential to our congregational life. First, we believe the Christian life is to be lived alongside others, not in isolation. We need each other for encouragement and growth, for confronting one another in a supportive way, and for help in times of crisis (Romans 12:5). We encourage everyone to be involved in a small group where we can be “real” together by laughing and crying, seeking counsel, sharing resources, enjoying each other’s gifts and abilities, and caring for each other’s spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. As a community we value accountability in relationships, broad ownership in decision making, and working together. A caring community is essential to growing in Christlikeness. Secondly, a caring community is essential in our reaching out and making our neighbors feel welcome. In a world increasingly fragmented and impersonal, many people need a place to belong before they can believe. We seek to be a caring place where questions of faith can be asked, doubts and struggles expressed, Christian living demonstrated, and answers to prayer and changes in people’s lives actually witnessed. In this caring atmosphere people can experience God, find courage and freedom to change and grow, and find a reason to believe in God. A caring community is essential to making disciples of Christ.

11. Commitment to the Poor.

Jesus said his mission was “to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, and to let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18). Biblical justice involves healing and restoring right relationships. One of the clearest themes in scripture is God’s concern for the poor, the exploited, and the downtrodden. God invites each one of us into a richer quality of life, which includes a relationship with the poor of our world. We try to share our resources with each other and the community in such a way that every person’s dignity is affirmed and so that no one lives in extreme need while others live in excess. As followers of Jesus we are encouraged to spend lavishly on the needy without feeling irresponsible and to work for a more just order in our community and around the world so that everyone has enough. We value gracious generosity, compassion, and mercy towards all people.

12. Stewardship of Resources.

Since God is the owner of everything we have (Psalms 24:1) we believe that our time, talents, resources, and the earth itself come to us as a gift from God. As stewards of time, we are nourished through the regular practice of Sabbath rest and worship. As stewards of creation, we are called to care for the earth and to bring rest and renewal to the land and everything that lives on it. As stewards of money, Jesus intended us to live a life of contentment, to avoid consumerism and extravagance, and to share our resources generously with others. While the Old Testament specifically required a tithe (10%) of our income, Jesus taught his disciples more broadly to give generously, cheerfully, and sacrificially (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). Jesus did not see the tithe as an ending point, but a beginning point. We encourage everyone to give proportionally to one’s income as an act of worship to God. Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). We know that if we place our treasures in God’s hands, that our hearts will follow. Since God ultimately owns everything, it only makes sense for us to give generously, even sacrificially, of our time, talents, and money as a way of surrendering our very hearts to God in love and gratitude. We value mutual aid, caring for creation, Sabbath rest, and being faithful managers of all that we are and have in service to God and neighbor.