Our Mission & Values
The board of The Fellowship of Presbyterians is meeting this week in Chicago, and we continue to be invigorated as we dream and pray together about a new kind of ministry community. We will soon post drafts of our theology and polity documents and invite your feedback. But before we turn to the structural pieces, we want to restate the larger vision – what The Fellowship of Presbyterians is seeking to do and the values that define how we will go about it. In the interests of keeping the “why” ahead of the “what,” we want to share with you some of what has come out of the board’s discussions today as we’ve talked about the mission and values of The Fellowship of Presbyterians. This is not final language, but a taste of what excites us for the future.
Our Mission:
To build flourishing churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ
Our Values:
- Jesus-Shaped Identity: We believe Jesus Christ must be at the center of our our lives and making disciples of Jesus at the core of our ministry.
- Biblical Integrity: We believe the Bible is the unique and authoritative Word of God, which teaches all that is necessary for faith and life. The prominence of God’s Word over our lives shapes our priorities, and the unrivaled authority of the Bible directs our actions to be in concert with Christ’s very best for our lives.
- Thoughtful Theology: We believe in theological education, constant learning, and the life of the mind, and celebrate this as one of the treasures of our Reformed heritage.
- Accountable Community: We believe guidance is a corporate spiritual experience. We want to connect leaders to one another in healthy relationships of accountability, synergy, and care.
- Egalitarian Ministry: We believe in unleashing the ministry gifts of women, men, and every ethnic group.
- Missional Centrality: We believe in living out the whole of the Great Commission – including evangelism, spiritual formation, compassion, and redemptive justice – in our communities and around the world.
- Center-Focused Spirituality: We believe in calling people to the core of what it means to be followers of Jesus – what “mere Christianity” is and does – and not obsess over the boundaries.
- Leadership Velocity: We believe the work of identifying and developing gospel-centered leaders is critical for the church, and a great leadership culture is risk-taking, innovative, and organic.
- Kingdom Vitality: We believe every congregation should vigorously reproduce new missional communities to expand the Kingdom of God.
17 Responses
This all sounds worthy and nice. But trying to read these as a non or new believer coming to the church for the first time, I don’t think I would understand what you basically stand for. Maybe a few too many ” flourishing” words? Just a thought.
Great point and we are constantly working on wording! Please understand, however, that for the moment our target “audience” at this point is not people outside the church but rather people in the PC(USA) who are seeking to understand options for their continuing ministry with integrity – people who are asking, “How is The Fellowship of Presbyterians going to be different from what we have seen already?”
I understand that “the Theology” will come later. But seriously, shouldn’t the core values be based on the Bible?
Absolutely! And they will be.
You write, “We believe every congregation should vigorously reproduce new missional communities to expand the Kingdom of God.”
How do you see a congregation with 30 people in attendance doing that?
The Gospel compels every congregation, regardless of size or resources, to be focused beyond itself, finding where God is at work and joining in, identifying the places where people are most in need of the hope and promise of the gospel and offering it, expanding the Kingdom.
For smaller membership congregations, that could take a lot of forms: creation of an intentionally seeker-friendly Bible study that may expand into a new worshiping/serving community, working in cluster ministry with other congregations in their area to establish an outreach children’s ministry, reaching out to welcome believers from another culture and birthing a new racial or ethnic congregation. Our ancestors even just a few generations back did this as naturally as breathing. Our focus needs to be on what we can be and do for the mission of God. For far too long it has been on what we can’t.
Thank you.
Frankly, I don’t see anything “new” in this. You write, “Our ancestors even just a few generations back did this as naturally as breathing.” Indeed, nothing new. And it didn’t stop a few generations ago, either. Any spiritually healthy congregation is still doing that. Led by the Holy Spirit they adapt to new times and circumstances, “as naturally as breathing.” I see it happening.
Thank you,
for all the work you do, to bring Christians (Jesus followers, commandment obeyers, God glorifyers) together.
On your mission statement I would like to see added “…., for the glory of God”.
Then that is our purpose, to glorify God in all we think and do.
Keep up the good work. May our Lord be with you.
Always grateful.
Maria Karl
One question that I have has yet to be answered: will I be able to affiliate as an individual pastor with the new Reformed body (in essence, dual membership)? I like what I see at this point, and I still have some of the excitement that I felt in Minneapolis, but I’m watching to see how it plays out.
That is our hope. Yes.
With respect, how are these statements different from what the PC(USA) believes, at least officially? “Unique and authoritative” reflects the PC(USA)’s current doctrine of Scripture, which is, to my mind, weak. Egalitarianism is also a PC(USA) value and you are listing it as one of the most important elements of the Fellowship. There is not a single classically Reformed doctrine listed (such as election).
This sounds like a denomination that is a copy of the PC(USA) except for homosexual ordination. Is this really enough to convince people to undertake the grave responsibilty of possibly leaving the PC(USA)?
Let me try this again:
I think you have something there, John. In reviewing some of the materials (i.e. “the Book of Confessions”) I wonder if we aren’t trying to be – not an EPC, not a PCA but a PC(USA) without the ordination issue. I’m hoping to see something more along the lines of a singular confessional status, or at least dropping some of our confessional baggage (i.e. Conf. of ’67).
Center-focused Spirituality: We believe in calling people to the core of what it means to be followers of Jesus – what “mere Christianity” is and does – and not obsess over the boundaries… Does “not obsess over the boundaries” translate into ignoring the rot as it eats away the “boundaries” of the heart?
I, too, am disappointed at keeping the Cnfession of 67. I was hoping for a higher view of Scripture in the NRB.
Enjoyed reading the Essential Tenets. Liked the idea of paragraphs rather than just bullet points to describe them.
I also see this, so far, as a well intentioned group that has my respect. But, they simply appear to be the older ordination vow PC (USA) all over again. I do not think the group wants “egalitarianism”. Gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered persons must remain second class citizens in that structure. Is this the way truly to “follow Jesus”? I do think the Jesus I know would expect all persons…gays, straights, etc…..to show respect, care, support and attend to the needs of all other persons, regardless. If this type of love is not present in and between all Christians, who or what are we, really?
Respect, care, support, and attention to needs–absolutely! Where are you not seeing this in the Fellowship structure?
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