Ethos: For Life Formation and Mission

The Flavour of our Community and our Approach to Mission and Vision

We connect to God and each other in order to be empowered to do the mission of impacting our city and world with the message and life of Jesus. And in the process we’re building a community that lives beyond ourselves. This succinctly describes what we’re all about.

Further, we’re using three adjectives that are a part of our Mission Statement to describe what we look like as we do that, which summarize our ethos – the three words being Life, Passion and Adventure.

By Life, we’re referring to the life we receive from knowing God and inviting His Son Jesus to be the forgiver and leader of our lives. By turning from the sin and the junk in our lives that separates us from the life of God, by asking for God’s forgiveness and committing our lives to Him, we are infused with the life of Christ for now and eternity. This life of Christ in us enables us to live life now to the fullest.  Living life in the fullest involves living life in community, being an engaged member of a local church and its mission. 

“But to those who did accept him (Jesus) he gave power to become children of God, to those who believed in his name.” John 1:12 (NJB)  

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)  

Passion, refers to our experience of God as we dive deeply into our relationship with Him. Sometimes we call this the “deeper life.”  The passion comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, and encountering God through significant study of his word as well as through intimate experiences of worship. It’s the mystery of God in us, filling us with Himself, so that we are truly experiencing transformation, seeing our lives changed.

“God wanted his people throughout the world to know the glorious riches of this mystery—which is Christ living in you, giving you the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27 (GWT)

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18 (NIV)

Adventure refers to what happens when we get involved with God mission, God’s work in our city and world. There is nothing more exciting, more adventurous or even more risky than serving God and being a part of bringing the message and life of Jesus to more and more people throughout our world. 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10 (NIV)  

Life, Passion and Adventure are words that describe what it means to connect with the living God and each other, so that we impact our city and world with the life and message of Jesus. In the process we create a dynamic local church community not unlike what we see described in the book of Acts:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47 (TNIV)

Strategy 

(Some things we’re doing to help fulfill our Mission and Vision)

Note: These strategies overlap and do not necessarily neatly follow each other. The fulfillment of our Mission and Vision including the process of life formation cannot be contained within a tightly ordered system.

1. To hold Worship Services where a believer can worship God and grow in his or her faith, knowledge and experience of God while at the same time being inclusive of and sensitive to the unique needs, culture and faith process of a seeking non-believer. Through these Worship Services, we are seeking to glorify God by leading both believers and seekers to a dynamic life changing encounter with the living God.

2. To lead our children, youth and adults through an age appropriate life formation journey that develops spiritually passionate worshippers of Christ who express their Christian commitment with fervent service through their local church and other kingdom ventures for the glory of God. We envision the life formation journey to include experiencing life, that comes through an intimate relationship with Christ; passion, that comes through surrender to the fullness and empowerment of the Holy Spirit; and adventure, that describes our involvement with the mission to bring the message and life of Jesus to our city and beyond.

We envision this life formation journey to develop fully alive Christ followers who:

Live connected and surrendered to God 

Through a vibrant prayer and devotional life 
Though a personal experience of God’s redeeming grace 
Through an ongoing experience of being filled with the Spirit 

Live out the teachings of the Bible 

Through a personal commitment to the authority of Scripture 

Live out the great commandment and the great commission 

Through an intentional missional focus to my city, country and world 

Live committed to community

In the local church (i.e., community membership) 
Through accountable spiritual friendships (including a life group experience) 

Live out of how one is created 

Through discovering, developing and deploying one’s spiritual gifts, talents and passions

Live generously 

Though a commitment to being a good steward of the resources God has entrusted one with including a commitment to proportional giving (tithing) to one’s local church 

Life formation takes place in the context of large group worship, a smaller group class curriculum (that presently at the adult level includes Alpha, Purpose Driven Life, Ordinary Day with Jesus, Good $ense, Network, Contagious Christian, The Marriage Course), the graduated church membership & ministry certification program, service within and out side of the local church, life group experiences, accountable spiritual friendships and other spiritual formation opportunities. 

3. To develop an environment within our church family that fosters the experience of authentic community and ultimately community with accountability. We recognize that community happens spontaneously in response to personal choices as well as external circumstances and cannot be forced. Hence our goal is to create an atmosphere that encourages believers and seekers to step into community with accountability whether that be some sort of small group (including our “Life Groups”), a mentoring relationship, or perhaps some form of spiritual friendship. The healthy experience of authentic community and ultimately community with accountability is critical for facilitation of “life formation.”

4. To provide a ministry of Community Care that tangibly demonstrates the love of Christ by assisting people with a variety of practical needs. First, to provide care to those primarily within our church family through our Redcare and Stephens Ministries programs or their equivalents. To minister to our church family and broader community through a variety of support programs (i.e. Divorce Care & Celebrate Recovery). Further, to minister the grace and mercy of God to those in our city, beyond our church family, through our “Opportunities Centre” that would assist people with a variety of practical needs, including food, clothing, and life skills training.

5. To develop special outreach events and ministries targeted at spiritual seekers from both churched and unchurched backgrounds.

6. To recognize our strategic location in Northwestern Ontario and to take some responsibility to assist in the planting of churches and to encourage outreach efforts in Northwestern Ontario and throughout our province. (This includes strengthening the work of our satellite campus in Barrie.)

7. To develop a global vision by encouraging ongoing participation with both finances and personnel in Alliance Missions as well as other designated Missions projects. (This includes our intentional focus and partnership with a number of ministries within the Indonesian/ Asian Spice region.)

8. To play a role in encouraging unity and relationship among the evangelical churches in Thunder Bay without compromising the distinctives that mark each church. To pray fervently for the spiritual health of our city. To further serve the church in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario by providing leadership development training and opportunities for lay and professional ministry workers.

9. To undergird all the ministries of our church with prayer. To recognize prayer as the driving force behind the work of the church.