Our VIsion
“Becoming more like Christ; leading more to Christ.”
We desire to cultivate a pervasive disciple-making culture in which every member is a disciple-maker. We are intent on making disciples of Jesus Christ. This is accomplished as each member prayerfully and lovingly speaks the truth of God’s Word to others, both Christians and non-Christians. Matthew 28:18-20 and Ephesians 4:11-16 are foundational in our thinking. Here are some phrases you might hear that capture our vision:
More a Potluck,
Less a Restaurant.
We want our church to feel more like a potluck meal and less like a restaurant. At a restaurant, consumers come desiring to be fed a good meal by the hired staff. If the staff performs well, they keep coming and pay for what they get. If the staff performs poorly, they move on to the next restaurant. At a potluck, a family comes together each having prepared a special dish that others will enjoy. Everyone walks away well-fed and happy. We are not consumers but participants. Our pastors are not hired guns who do all the work, they are uniquely gifted servants who equip us all to do the work of ministry. That’s what we mean when we say we are “more like a potluck, less like a restaurant.”
WE ARE NOT A MUSEUM FOR SAINTS
BUT A HOSPITAL FOR SINNERS.
Sometimes church can be the place where we all come and pretend like we have our lives together; we come to look righteous in front of a bunch of religious people. That’s not what we want for our church. What unites us as a church is that we are all alike broken, messed-up people who need a Saviour. Because of the grace and forgiveness of Christ, we don’t have to hide our sin or try to look better than we are. It’s as we’re honest about who we actually are that God can begin his great work of restoring us to health through his Spirit. That’s what we mean when we say, “We are not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.”
EVERY MEMBER,
A DISCIPLE-MAKER.
Our church isn’t a building. It is about a community of people. But it’s not simply a community of people. It’s a community of people with a shared mission. We are a group of people who have been transformed by Jesus Christ, and so we share a desire to see everyone come to know Christ and then to grow to be more like Christ. This isn’t some theoretical mission we all vaguely agree to; it’s something every one of us cares about personally. To the extent that every member is a disciple-maker, we are succeeding in our mission. That’s how we measure our success. That’s what we mean when we say, “Every member, a disciple-maker.”
christ is the head of the church,
and he rules the church through his word.
Some churches are top-down churches. Others are more grassroots. We are a decidedly top-down church. But it’s not the Senior Pastor, or the Elders, or the Congregation at the top. Jesus is at the top. He is the head of our church. So we’re not trying to follow anyone’s vision aside from his. The way Jesus leads his church is through his Word. So we are looking intently into God’s Word seeking to understand how Jesus wants us to go about everything we do. His Word sets the agenda for what we do and how we do it.
