As Disciples of Christ, the great commission of Matthew 28:19-20, has always been the stated, scriptural directive of our existence.   And with such a high call, one might have expected our efforts towards advancing the kingdom of God to be more evident.  Yet, after looking back over the shoulders of our glowing history, we found ourselves, like so many other well intentioned Churches, adrift.

After twelve years of only providing ministry to those who were fortunate enough, (or bold enough) to enter our doors, God graced the shepherd of the house with a sharper view of our purpose.  God has used many a resources and individuals to pound out some of the lumpy imperfections of tradition and fill in dents of ignorance, but the seasoned work of Rick Warren, was helpful in glazing the clay!

A ‘Purpose Driven Church’, is the Church that we’ve always wanted to be.  So after years of doing church the way everyone else did church, and getting the same results that everyone got, we began the radical and excruciating process of changing.  In order to become purpose driven, in most cases, it requires more than a change, it requires a transformation!  Changes are usually temporary, transformations are permanent!  Changes are cosmetic, transformations are structural!  So we began the arduous task of transforming our whole way of seeing and thinking about the church.

Two scripture passages have shaped our twofold purpose:   Matthew 28:19, 20 and Ephesians 4:11, 12.  The Matthew reference mandates that we reach the unsaved with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Ephesians clarifies our call to equip those who are saved, for service in ministry.

It became necessary for us to address those areas of our ministry that could hinder or prevent our ability to fulfill our purpose.  Some hard questions had to be asked and answered.  i.e., Why aren’t we growing?  Why aren’t the members more spiritually mature?  Why doesn’t our Church have an effective evangelism strategy?  Why aren’t new members becoming involved in ministry?  and Why are baptisms so far and in between?  None of the answers were palatable.   But like it or not, we couldn’t keep doing what we were doing and call ourselves ‘Disciples of Christ’.

Our purpose statement has become ‘Discipling on Purpose’, as that is our passion and our purpose.  If what is done isn’t about ‘Making Disciples’, than we aren’t doing it.

We’re living among a whole new generation; a lost generation.  Jesus called us to be fishers of men.  A part of our equipping work, involves understanding the target and using the current, available resources to reach them.  To catch these 21st Century, lost fish, we need new bait.  These fish have little or no spiritual background or concept of church.  The only thing that never changes is God and His word!  The world has changed, and so must our approach.   If you aren’t currently a member of a church and want to be apart of a growing, working church family – check us out, if you already have a church home – God bless you and pray for us!