Our Vision
Our Calling
To call all people to full devotion to Jesus Christ:
- The unchurched
- The dechurched
- The dead-churched
- The unmoved
Our Conviction
A healthy church intentionally and zealously pursues a balanced ministry which grows:
- With new converts to Christ
- Who make new commitments to the body and cause of Christ
- Who experience new growth in the grace & knowledge of Christ
- Who become new leaders for tomorrows harvest for Christ
Our purpose is to call others to:
- Believe in Christ
- Belong to His Body
- Be Trained in Truth
- Be Strong in Ministry
We are in the business of changed lives. We live to turn the uncommitted and opposed into unashamedly committed, fully devoted followers of Christ. Everything we do is measured by its usefulness, effectiveness, and contribution toward this purpose.
Our Commitment
To measure our success only by our ability to realize our conviction of being and making disciples. (Disciples are individuals who understand what it means to follow Jesus Christ into a life of worship, fellowship, sacrifice, service, and yielding to the Spirit.)
Our Values
We Unashamedly & Uncompromisingly Strive to Be:
Biblically Based — God's Word is our guide, authority, and conscience in everything. We stand firm where it stands firm and remain flexible where it is flexible.
Christ-Centered — Jesus is Lord and head of the church, and it is for Him that we exist. Full devotion to Him is normal for the believer. If it does not exalt His name and further His kingdom we do not embrace it.
Grounded in Grace — We acknowledge our complete dependence on the goodness and grace of God in everything. We ourselves have benefited from the kind intention of His will; therefore we eagerly extend it to others.
Passionate About Prayer — We do not believe that prayer is merely preparation for the work. We believe prayer is continually an essential part of the work.
Authentic in Our Walk — Authenticity, integrity, openness and sincerity will define us. "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."
Committed to the Uncommitted — We believe that lost people matter to God therefore they ought to matter to us. Jesus came to seek and save the lost and has left us here in part to do the same. Our individual lives and corporate efforts will reflect this conviction.
Relevant to Our World — The Bible does not tell us to use only certain styles of music, or to present our message only through words. The Bible does make it clear, however, that we are to find ways to effectively bring the message "into all the world" in order to make disciples. We believe this will require careful scrutiny of everything we do-new practices and old-and a willingness to change when necessary within biblical parameters, in order that we, "by all possible means might save some."
A Welcoming Family — We desire our fellowship to be a caring family that values community, informality, spontaneity, freedom of expression, humor, fun, commitment, and loyalty. In our pursuit of holiness, we will acknowledge our imperfection, and provide an environment in which people are free to risk, fail and find grace and encouragement in time of need.
Accountable to One Another — Membership in our body requires a tangible commitment to our purposes and our vision as outlined in our Discovery (membership) Class. Everyone is welcome to attend our church and participate in our times of celebration and encouragement. However, it is our intention to call all believers in our midst into membership.
Committed to Community — Belonging to our community requires a visible commitment to being intentionally involved with others in accountable and encouraging relationships. We believe life change happens best in smaller groups. In these clusters of caring people, participants share and encourage each other toward spiritual growth. Here people can experience both the benefits of a larger church and yet enjoy the kind of relationships that only develop in small, safe settings.
Focused on Ministry & Service — We believe that each believer has received a special gift and should employ it in serving others, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Innovative & Flexible — We value openness to change and flexibility, believing that such a climate is conducive to personal, relational, and spiritual growth. We will be structured to allow for change, freshness, and innovation. We strive to keep tradition in perspective. We constantly ask whether every tradition or practice is optimally serving the biblical purpose for which it was originally designed. If it is, we keep it. If it is not, and if the Scriptures give us leeway on how to accomplish that purpose, then we aggressively work to find a better way.
Other Passions
Pursuit of God — We desire all people to be in a passionate, relentless pursuit of God's heart, mind, presence, voice, and to follow after Him.
Preeminence of Jesus Christ — We believe full devotion to Christ is normative for the believer. We desire to emulate the attributes of Christ and be increasingly conformed to His image.
Dependence on the Spirit of God — We acknowledge our need to be completely yielded to and guided by the Spirit. God's purposes will be accomplished here not by our great efforts but by His great work through us and in us.
Application of God's Word — We believe the Bible is to be taught and applied to lives with equal passion. We seek to know and live the Scriptures. The best theology is an applied theology.
Servant Leadership — We acknowledge the significant leadership authority Christ has put in the hands of the pastor and the elders. We expect all leaders to exercise that authority by modeling humility, selflessness, grace, care for His sheep, and sacrifice that others might advance in their faith and faithfulness.
Worship — We do not desire to mandate or be identified by any particular form or practice in worship, but to create a worship environment that resonates with the soul of the worshipers. This will occur in an atmosphere of freedom in which people can express their heart for God while at all times maintaining sensitivity to others.
Children — We view children not only as the future, but as a significant part of the church right now. Our goal is to raise passionate, realistic followers of Christ, and so we believe our children are worth all the time and energy we can invest in them.
Training & Discipleship — Intentional participation in relationships with others at different levels of spiritual maturity is essential. While we provide many formal occasions for growth, we place a higher priority on the value of relationships. Jesus apprenticed His disciples, even as His disciples are called to mentor or be mentored by others today.
Relationships — We believe life-change happens best in the context of relationships. We value honest relationships where truth is spoken in love and every member takes responsibility for the well being and reputation of others they know in the body.
Diversity — We agree that churches more easily attract those with similar preferences and/or life experiences. Therefore, we acknowledge that simply by being who we are, we necessarily "target" a certain segment of our society. Our desire however, is that the Holy Spirit will bless us with a rich diversity of ages, life-stages, religious, racial, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We desire to foster an atmosphere of unity that communicates warmth and acceptance of all that care to join us. It is our hope that the things that ultimately define us are those things that speak to the needs of the entire human race not only specific ethnic or demographic ones. Therefore, we stress such universal concerns as forgiveness, redemption, significance, peace, meaning and truth above styles, tastes and preferences.
Unity — We embrace diversity but require unity in the essentials, understanding in the non-essentials and seek in every way to love others as Christ has first loved us. We have a great commitment to the great commandment and the great commission, believing by this alone God will make us a great church.
Simplicity — We wish to do nothing "for religious effect" but rather to live, serve and worship in an authentic and natural way.
Healing — We believe Jesus is the divine physician and, as such, healing and hope are normative whenever His people gather in community. We believe that Jesus continues to provide freedom, redemption, deliverance, healing, salvation and hope as they best glorify His name and purposes.
Missions — In response to Christ's directive to spread His Good News around the world, we use a multi-faceted approach in helping reach today's world. Our church takes a servant approach in equipping and supporting various indigenous ministries that have proven effective in their own culture. We encourage members to serve abroad. In addition we seek to involve our church in projects to communicate the Gospel and share our resources worldwide.
The Poor — We are God's extended hands. We must with vision and servant leadership, increasingly learn to minister directly to the poor, sometimes with our money, sometimes with our lives. We must live in fellowship with an awareness of our blessings and corresponding responsibility to others.
Excellence — We believe excellence honors God and reflects His character. We strive for excellence without compromise in all areas of our ministry and lives.
