Manchester LIFE is committed to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. This means that we strive to do the things we see our Master doing in the Word of God and in and through each other. In doing so, we have the living Christ alive in us, individually and collectively as His body. We carry out Jesus’ message of redemption, teaching of the kingdom, and healing love to the needs of our community.

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Walter & Pastor Ryan take a moment for a picture -- Helping neighbors during a New Hampshire flood

Being a disciple of Christ means that we must love God first. We accomplish this by mimicking Christ as the model of how we live as God’s sons and daughters. This involves careful devotion to His Word, an ever-deepening prayer life, and an understanding of worship that encompasses all of life. God gives our time, resources, and spiritual giftedness to us for use in expanding and living in His kingdom. With this understanding we participate in a world that is far greater than our own. When we come together collectively to worship, we are aware of the unique dwelling of God with His people. We approach it as a true time of transcendence in the Spirit.

Being a disciple of Christ also means loving others. Manchester has needs unique to the cultural atmosphere of the city. With homelessness, drug abuse, and poverty tearing at lives in our community, we seek to use our resources (money, time and talents) to humbly bring God’s love to a city that desperately needs it. Committed to children as the future expansion of God’s kingdom, we are involved in outreach and service programs designed to show kids a different path away from death that leads to life. We are called to make ourselves available to those who are in need, at the cost of our own time, so that the kingdom of God may always define our meaning and purpose. When we serve others, we recognize that we serve Christ himself. For such work, we have been uniquely prepared.

In addition to going out actively in our community, it is important that we also open our lives, hearts and homes to people. As members of a common vision for Manchester, we share our lives openly with each other. We see our lives as not entirely our own. Where our world sees rugged individualism, we see a unified community in Christ living in relationship with one another through the Spirit of the living God.

Finally, we take the call of Jesus to make more disciples for the kingdom as foundational to the mission and ministry that we carry on. We do this by opening not only our hearts and homes, but also our eyes to the working of the Spirit in our city. Where the Spirit is at work, we must proclaim Christ boldly. As essential to our common vision, we recognize that where relationships are the most broken, the gift of Christ is often the strongest. Our love for those who don’t know Christ must be unconditional. We cannot expect people to show up at our doors, we must go out and meet people where they are, recognizing that before we can teach people about Christ we must show Christ alive in us.

To such commitments we lovingly hold each other accountable.