Our Mission & ValuesWho We Are: Deep Roots, Wide Reach We are a community of people who are captivated and compelled by the good news about Jesus Christ. As a result, we seek the glory of God in every area of our lives and the good of others in every relationship. In a nutshell, we are a community with deep roots and a wide reach. With deep roots in the Gospel, we are free to engage in meaningful relationships with one another, to worship the living God in corporate worship, to pursue transformation by the power of the Gospel, and give ourselves to God's mission to bring mercy and grace to this world. Of course, the best way to understand who we are is to experience our community in action -- whether in worship on Sunday or in various places around St Louis during the week -- you are always welcome! Hopefully, the following description will offer a helpful overview. Our Ministry Emphases are to be: 1. A Grace-filled Community: "No man is an island." With increasingly crowded schedules, we must intentionally make time to be with each other and present for each other in those times. Therefore, it is vital for our church health that we invite each member to participate in a combination of the following community-building efforts:
* A welcoming environment at every church gathering in genuine love and hospitality;
* A shepherding structure, called “folds“ to address the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of each member. o A network of small groups, called “covenant groups” of 8-12 people with the objective of fostering deepening relationships with God and with one another.
o A fully-functioning, healthy church Body in which each member is motivated by the Gospel to serve the church, according to personal giftedness, skills and ability. 2. Christ-centered Worship:
One of the primary ways we grow in this way is by engaging in corporate worship each Sunday. Our worship is characterized by:
* Expository preaching which seeks to understand what a biblical passage says and what it means for our daily lives. The goal of our preaching ministry is to reorient us toward Jesus as our greatest joy;
* Singing of hymns and songs characterized by deep truth and beautiful music which guide our response to what Jesus has done for us. We are encouraged by the variety of biblical worship represented in the Church today. * Sacraments by which we joyfully receive the means of grace -- with covenant baptism welcoming us into God’s family and the Lord’s Supper equipping us to live together as God’s people.
* Corporate Prayer by which we take responsibility to intercede on behalf of our church body, our neighborhoods, and our world. *Liturgy: through individual and corporate readings of Scripture, responses, prayers, and creeds, our liturgy is more than an expression of worship; it is formative, reshaping our affections, our desires, and our minds into greater conformity with Jesus. *Testimonies of God's grace, provision, and faithfulness in individual lives which remind us that God is not done with us yet! 3. Gospel-driven Renewal
We believe authentic, sustainable, God-glorifying spiritual change in our lives is possible only as we sink deep roots in the Gospel... [Read More]
As the apostle Paul writes in Romans 1:16, the Gospel is the “power of God” for the Christian life from beginning to end. Tim Keller has described the Gospel more than the ABCs of the Christian life but its A to Z. With this in mind, our discipleship efforts all share a common goal: a focus on the Gospel. Highlighting these efforts are:
* An emphasis the centrality of the Gospel for the full spectrum of the Christian life in all our teaching and discipleship ministries;
* Because the Bible is the record of God graciously revealing Himself to us, we are committed to teaching the Bible faithfully, comprehensively, and in a winsome manner to make biblical truth accessible to all; * An intentional investment in future generations (children / student / school) to build a solid foundation for our children and a pass on a passion for the Gospel to our young people. 4. Kingdom-minded Mission
God’s people have always been situated in a particular place for a specific mission: to serve... [Read More]
as ambassadors of the living God and agents of His redemptive purposes. God’s many blessings to the church were never intended to be passports to privilege. Instead, the church exists for the world as God uses His people to extend His healing grace to a hurting world. As a church, we will not measure our faithfulness to God by merely what happens inside our church walls -- membership, programs, etc. -- but by our faithfulness outside them. To do so, we strive to live for God’s mission:
* Where we live, through:
o Relational evangelism that answers questions about Jesus in love;
o Mercy ministry which meets the practical needs of others in the name of Jesus; * Where we work and study, through:
o Vocational responsibility that strives to serve Jesus and others through our work, whether in our homes, in the marketplace, or in the church;
o Cultivating skill in discernment regarding culture -- including the arts, social and political issues, work, and family matters; * In addition, we seek to invest in God’s mission to the world by:
o Planting healthy churches to contextualize the Gospel in diverse settings;
o Serving campuses, with an emphasis on Reformed University Fellowship, to reach students for Christ; o Supporting excellent Christian education, with an emphasis on serving under-resourced areas in St. Louis and around the world; o Partnering with missionaries in our strategic focus areas. Copyright 2010 Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2143 N. Ballas Road / 314.432.8700, St. Louis MO 63131, 314.432.8700 |