Throughout 2009, a team of staff, leadership team and ministry leaders embarked on a process of seeking God's vision for our church going forward. To do this, the team spent hours in prayer, evaluated our church history in terms of the path God had taken it to-date, took an honest assessment of where our church stands today in relation to its historical journey, summarized our core values as a body of believers, and then developed the mission statement, vision statement, and ministry model that should chart our course for the next several years.

Core Values

To determine vision and driving purpose that makes our church special in God's Kingdom, it is vital to know and understand its foundational or core values. The ReVisioning Team listed these values that reflect who we are or desire to be:

• Under Biblical authority
• Prayer
• Mission-minded
• Christ as the head
• Spiritual power
• Compassionate
• Unity/relationships
• Discipleship

Ministry or Operational Values reflect the way we operate or how we choose to minister:

• Innovative
• Relational
• Culturally relevant
• Missional/outward focused
• Teamwork (accountability and vulnerability)
• Discipleship/equipping

Our Purpose Statement

"Glorifying God through lives transformed by the powerful Gospel of Jesus Christ."

The church's Purpose Statement answers these questions:

• Why do we exist as a church?
• Why did God create the church?
• What is our corporate response to God's grace, mercy and love?

Our Vision Statement

"A unified body with Jesus Christ as the head, equipping believers to live out Christian faith beyond our walls."

Vision is a description of the future from God's perspective...what God wants to accomplish through our obedience. If God were to have His way, what will our church look like in 3-5 years? What ministries? Who is the church touching? If a visitor walked in on a Sunday, what would he/she experience?

Ministry Model

The resulting ministry model reflects God's plan for our church to be focused on three key areas:

• Small Groups
• Worship
• Missions

When members involve themselves on those three areas, we entrust the Holy Spirit with the life transformation that will occur in the lives of individuals, families and the overall church body.

Each circle in the ministry model represents one of the three areas of life-focus, while the triangle that connects them represents life transformation. The small arrows that point inward toward a circle represents an entry point for prospects to come and join our fellowship, while the small arrows pointing outward from a circle represent our church sending people out "beyond our walls" to impact the world for Christ.

Key Verse