Westland FMC is uniting with Jesus to restore lives to joy-filled wholeness.

In May of 2023, our whole leadership team was tasked with asking Jesus what picture he had for our church. Where do you want us to go, Jesus, and what do you hope to see us become? What will it look like for us to live out this mission?

Divided into groups, we found ourselves in separate rooms and drew pictures that came to our heart, which visually depicted where Jesus was taking us.

We came back with almost the exact same picture.

This is it… a Life-Giving Orchard

where people being spiritually formed like healthy fruit-bearing trees will result in seeds of restoration sprouting across Westland and our surrounding metro Detroit communities.

We don’t see Westland and our surrounding communities as an area to abandon, but a place that God wants to restore by pouring out His joy-filled wholeness, like living water desperately needed here and now for life to thrive and bear fruit. We envision generational cycles of brokenness reversed and an epidemic of isolation being dispelled as every generation discovers a place to belong and find purpose together within this life-giving orchard.

As people are discipled in these ways, new leaders will emerge and be mobilized. These new seedlings sprouting up in the orchard will become thriving trees that reproduce multiple varieties of fruit, representing different fresh expressions of church (house churches, park churches, dinner churches, etc.).

As more people find their place in this life-giving orchard and experience increasingly the abundant life that Jesus desires to restore in them, we see each one overflowing with Spirit-empowered seeds of joy-filled wholeness resulting in an ever-expanding life-giving orchard.

All of this is rooted in who we foundationally are as a church and what we value at our core. We are Led by the Spirit, Rooted in the Word, Mobilized for the Mission, Committed to our Neighbors, and Bonded through Holy Friendship.

Out of these Core Values we have a map for how we can live out our mission collectively. As we are Worshipping, Growing, Connecting, and Neighboring, and as everything we do is constantly saturated in prayer… we believe we will experience the reality of becoming that ever-expanding life-giving orchard.

You and I are part of this becoming reality, as we are spiritually formed. The Lord has graciously shown us a practical way to see when we are bearing spiritual fruit - through our spiritual Vital Signs, which are Pursue God, Engage Scripture, Serve Others, and Radiate Jesus.

We believe that if the majority of our community here at WFMC are consistently taking steps to grow in at least 3 out of 4 of our vital signs, we will see this life-giving orchard come to fruition in ways we could never dream possible as we unite with Jesus to restore lives to joy-filled wholeness.

We hope that for you, like us… this picture of more and more individuals and our church collectively becoming this life-giving orchard stirs a deep excitement and holy anticipation within you.

Come to think of it, Genesis and Revelation paint a picture of what some might call an orchard with fruit bringing wholeness and life. Almost as if God has always desired to dwell among his people in a kind of life-giving orchard, or garden.

John.15.5 says

“If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

We would love for you to join us as we abide with Jesus and begin to see this life-giving orchard.