About Us
Miami First Church of the Brethren is a young, vibrant, intercultural church that meets at the northern end of Miami-Dade County, with members from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. The congregation will celebrate its 75th Anniversary in 2010.
The congregation has evolved through the years from a more traditional Brethren church to one today that holds the basic values of the Brethren but expresses them sometimes in new and different ways. There have been both tragedies and triumphs in the past, but a transition was made in the 1990’s to the intercultural look of the church today.
Miami First currently has at least 10 cultures represented at this time in addition to the various white European cultures that are present. Among the membership are those of African-American, Haitian, Dominican, Cuban, Columbian, Brazilian, Jamaican, and West Indian culture. The church’s vision is to see the reality of Revelation 7:9 (in the future in heaven) right here and now in South Florida. In fact, Revelation 7:9-10 is our vision statement:
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Today’s New International Version)
Miami First Church was one of several catalysts who moved our denomination in 2007, at our Annual (national) Conference held in Cleveland, Ohio, to make it our intention to become more intercultural in all of our congregations across the land in the 21st Century.
Our worship is casual, but real. We sing both hymns and contemporary choruses. It is also participatory. We include the congregation, not only in the singing, but in prayers and Scripture readings together, and in the weekly sharing of joys and concerns for prayer. We also include the children. They help to lead our singing, to collect the offerings, and as they get older, to lead in Scripture and prayer. Our last generation of children, today, make up much of our church’s leadership, serving as members of the church board, deacons, worship leaders, teachers, and more.
We also believe strongly in outreach, both through evangelism and through social ministry, serving both the spiritual and physical needs of our neighbors. We share the Gospel whenever we have opportunity and invite others to worship and to follow Christ. We assist in food and clothing drives, working at times with community agencies such as the Miami Rescue Mission. We raise funds for hunger needs both here and in other counties. We send volunteers on short-term mission trips and disaster relief work camps. We give much hands-on assistance to our District’s church camp near Orlando, where one of our members serves as Program Director in the summer months. We also send counselors, kitchen workers, chaplains and more, as well as campers. Our children have given enough money over the past several years to send numerous flocks of chickens and ducks, as well as a goat to Heifer Project International, which helps persons in poorer areas to get started at feeding themselves with the eggs, milk, etc. from these gifts, and to pass the gift on to others in need. We also participate annually in two special outreaches, Operation Christmas Child, sending shoeboxes full of toys and gifts to needy children. and Souper Bowl Sunday, where we collect money for local hunger needs.
We believe strongly in mission, supporting several outreaches in Haiti, as well as our denomination’s mission program in general. A number of our members have gone on short-term trips to Haiti, Guatemala, New Orleans, and other places. We have one member who serves in full-time mission work in South Africa.
We believe in the study and practice of God’s Word, through weekly biblically based sermons, and bi-weekly home Bible studies, which meet in four locations around South Florida at this time.
And we believe the church is to be a family. We not only worship, study, and work together, but we also eat together a lot, and laugh, and sometimes weep with one another. But those who enter our building are made to feel welcome and a part of the family as quickly as possible.
Come and join us. Experience what a New Testament Church is meant to be. We’d love to have you!