In Matthew 28:19, just before the ascension, Jesus tells his Disciples “¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”.  This is known as Jesus’ Great Commission and is reflected in the mission statement of the United Methodist Church which says, “The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

While this has been our mission for many years, we have lost our focus on intentional discipleship making as we have become immersed in the many ministries and activities in our day to day lives in the church.  This inward focus has been at the expense of our overarching mission.  Recognizing this, the Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church began an initiative called “See All the People”.  Through this initiative, they are helping local churches, like Fredericksburg UMC, to develop discipleship systems. 

In the words of Discipleship Ministries, “The most essential step for making disciples of Jesus Christ is to immerse ourselves in the lives of the people who are right outside our doors, acknowledging that God calls us to have meaningful relationships in authentic, organic and consistent ways.  See All The People means having a discipleship system that begins with being in relationship with those around our churches.”

Last year, Fredericksburg UMC formed a “See All the People” Task force to lead our church through the development and implementation of a discipleship system.  To date, the Task force has met a number of times to work on this system, there have been discussions with the Church Council, and the Lenten sermon series and small group discussions on the life of Peter called “Come, Follow Me” have been in support of this effort.

Over the next months, and likely years, you will see and hear more information on See All The People.  During this time, please know that you are doing great things for Christ and that Fredericksburg UMC has most, if not all, of the pieces of discipleship making through the many, many wonderful ministries within our church, our community, and around the world.  Our hope is that the See All The People initiative will provide the glue to bring our focus to the main thing, and that is “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World”.

We would love to hear your thoughts on See All the People and on discipleship making at Fredericksburg UMC.