A Reformed View of Salvation

As pastors, few concepts shape church life and ministry more than our view of God and the manner in which he redeemed sinful people to himself. Therefore, we desire to collaborate with pastors who agree to a Reformed approach to the study of salvation and generally hold to the doctrines of grace. Specifically, we emphasize the sovereignty of God in salvation, over-and-against our human agency to choose repentance and faith apart from Him.

 

Expository Preaching

We value God’s Word by emphasizing week-to-week expository preaching of Scripture by means of exegetical and sequential study of entire books or sections of Scripture.  In expository preaching, the content and aim of each scriptural passage determines the content and aim of the message. We desire to collaborate with pastors who are committed to reading, explaining, and applying specific passages of Scripture from the pulpit, rather than using the Bible as a springboard for their own ideas.

 

Meaningful Membership & Discipline

A local church is a physically gathered community consisting of repentant believers in Jesus Christ who have consciously committed to following Christ together. Maintaining a faithful church membership involves calling new believers (and any newcomers) to this kind of covenant commitment, and dismissing members who persist in unrepentant sin (Matthew 18:15-20). We want to collaborate with pastors who value covenant commitment through the practice of meaningful church membership and discipline.

 

Biblical Eldership

In the New Testament, local churches are led by biblically qualified elders (1 Tim 3, Titus 1). Elders must faithfully teach God’s word, shepherd God’s people, and maintain godly character. Therefore, we want to collaborate with pastors who are committed to developing fellow elders and serving alongside a plurality of qualified men who shepherd the church together.

Evangelism, Discipleship & Church Planting

Lastly, we want to collaborate with pastors who are particularly passionate about making disciples and multiplying healthy churches according to Scripture. While this fellowship is not designed to facilitate church planting, per say, to some extent we hope Great Commission collaboration will happen naturally among the pastors involved. Each member church coordinates their own mission-efforts. However, to be a part of this fellowship, pastors should be eager to see God transform people’s lives as they equip members to share the gospel, disciple one another, and work together to see healthy churches multiplied.