The Story of the 5 I's
 

     Once upon a time there was a child whose family had just moved into a neighborhood. One day, a neighbor came over and presented the child with a baseball glove.

“What’s this for?” the child asked.

     “Consider it an investment,” the neighbor responded. The next day the neighbor came over and invited the child to play ball with the other neighbors. The child knew little about baseball, but responded positively to the invitation.

     Soon the child was on a freshly mown lawn playing ball and feeling quite included. Within a short time the child got involved with other neighborhood children, planning games with other teams and developing a game plan. Naturally, the next step was to discover what each child was best at doing. Some were really good pitchers while others played well in the field. Eventually, all the children discovered their gifts and implemented them for the good of the team.

     Then one day a new child moved into the neighborhood. Shortly thereafter, a smiling child knocked on the new neighbor’s door holding out a baseball glove as a gift.

     “What’s this for?” asked the neighbor.

     “Consider it an investment,” the child responded, remembering words heard from another neighbor not so long before.

     Wouldn’t it be great if all stories went like that? What if neighbors invested in your life and invited you to play with them? It feels great to be included in the game and involved in the planning. It is fulfilling to have abilities implemented for the good of the team. It is exciting then to turn around and invest in the lives of others. This is the strategy of ministry at A&M United Methodist Church. It is our sincere hope that every member of this great church will have your own story to tell—a story of 5 I’s: Invest, Invite, Include, Involve, Implement, and Invest again in others.
 

THE 5 I'S
OUR STRATEGY FOR MINISTRY

Invest – Develop authentic relationships with persons not connected to a Christ-centered congregation.
 

Invite – Extend an invitation to someone not a part of a Christ-centered congregation to experience A&M UMC.
 

Include – Participate in inspiring congregational worship experiences.
 

Involve – Join a faith-forming small group.
 

Implement – Discover, develop, and deploy our spiritual and financial gifts in ministry.

Invest – Return the investment by investing in the lives of others.