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About Us	Leadership	Doctrine
Core Values	Philosophy	Organization

Our Core Values

Our values are the priorities of our lives. They determine how we spend our time, talent, and money. Our values are the convictions we must live by for our vision to become reality. A principle does not become a value simply by saying so. Action is necessary for principles to become values. In other words, our values are what we do - not necessarily what we say. The following values ought to be found in the everyday life of Grace Community Fellowship, and our leaders are working hard to ensure that we live by them.

Prayer Moves The Life Of The Church

Prayer is our foundation. Everything we do depends on God, and prayer declares our dependence on Him. We do not make decisions, short or long term plans, or set goals of any kind without being led by the Lord in prayer. Prayer must be valued in every context of the life of this church. Each individual must seek the Lord in prayer. Every cell must depend on God through prayer for the building up of its members, and for the salvation of the lost. When we meet together as the whole church, we must seek the Lord together in prayer. We believe that nothing of any lasting value will ever be accomplished without prayer. Click here to download our devotional series on prayer.

Every Member Is A Minister

The Word of God refers to the church as the Body of Christ. Each member must do its part in order for the human body to function properly, as it was designed to do. In the same way, each member of the church must fulfill his or her role in ministry in order for the church to function as God intended. In this church, the pastors do not do the ministry, but instead, their job is to equip others to share in the work of ministry. True ministry is when God works through His people by the power of His Spirit, and the results are always supernatural.

Every Member Is Equipped For Service

In order for each Christian to become mature and serve in the capacity that God has chosen, the leadership of the church must devote time to equipping the members of the body. Equipping is a high priority for us, because it will prepare our people for the collective ministry of Grace Community Fellowship, which leads us to accomplish our God-given mission.

Members Are Both Hearers And Doers Of The Word

James 1:22 tells us to not only listen to the Word, but to obey it. Because of the level of intimacy that we can have in our cells, we can get to real issues in people's lives. We need one another in order to live out the life that we're called to live. It is easy for a Christian to attend a service once or twice a week, hear a message from God's Word, and yet never apply it in their life, because they have little or no contact with the church through the rest of the week.

In the Basic Christian Community, our people are encouraged to apply what they learn so that the Word of God becomes active in their lives. Our human tendency is to seek comfort. When we encounter God through the truth of His Word, we are challenged to change, or to move out of our comfort zones. The truth is what brings growth, and growth always involves change. Change doesn't happen unless there is action, and so being a doer of the Word is a value that is necessary for the Christian.

Sometimes people don't want to respond to God's Word. One of the benefits of community is that people love each other enough to speak the truth. The truth often confronts sin in our lives, and many times it's sin that we don't want to give up. We can deceive ourselves into thinking we're alright because we listen to the Word without obeying it. When that happens, we need others to love us enough to tell us the truth about our sin, and to help us choose what is righteous and honor God.

Children And Youth Participate Fully In Church Life

We can see no minimum age requirement for ministry in the New Testament. People of all ages were active in the life of the church. God's Word has many examples of children and young people being used to do extraordinary things. The truth is that our children learn best by our own example. We are an "intergenerational" church, which means we believe that the age differences among the people of Grace Community Fellowship are used by the Holy Spirit to equip and edify one another.

We believe that our children and youth are the church today and not merely the church of tomorrow. Some adults need to learn to give ministry to our children and youth, and also receive ministry from them. Some children also need to learn to give ministry to adults and receive ministry from them.

Cells Function As The Church

The cell is the church at its most basic level. Prayer, Bible teaching, sharing, fellowship, and worship happen at this level. Christians are equipped and edified, and lost people are reached at this level of church life. The mission of the church can be accomplished at this level. The Basic Christian Community is the church. Click here to learn more about Cells.

Nothing Competes With Cells

Because of the importance of community in equipping and building up the individual Christian, we will not allow any plans or programs to become more important, or to interfere with cell life in this church. Building and multiplying cells are priorities, because they help us accomplish our mission.

Cells Worship Together As The Whole Church

Even though the cell is the church at the most basic level, we do have a larger sense of church as well. By the word church we mean people. We gather all of our cells together weekly to celebrate who God is and what He's doing in our midst. These gatherings are also effective for preaching and teaching the Word of God to a larger group, and they create excitement as each individual becomes aware of God's work in a larger sense.

There Will Be Clear Accountability For Everyone

Every cell member has accountability with at least one other cell member. This has been purposefully built into our structure because of our sinful nature, and because we need encouragement and help in order to fight the spiritual battles we face daily. The more accountability we have, the easier it is to overcome our struggle with sin. We believe that a lone Christian is usually a weak one. As is the case in most of human society, so it is in the church: there is strength in numbers. God tells us that two are better than one, and a cord of three strands is not easily broken (Ecc. 4:9-12).

Evangelism Flows Out of Cell Life

Jesus told the disciples that the outside world would know that they were His followers when they saw the love that they had for each other. That testimony would be what would draw the lost to the church. We don't see evangelism as a program. Reaching lost people is not just something we do -- it's a by-product of who we are. The cell is where the lost will be able to most clearly see what Christianity is. Evangelism is a lifestyle that we live together, in community. And when a lost person comes to Christ, they immediately have a group of people who are committed to love them and help them grow.

Every Cell Reproduces Itself

At a certain point in the size of any given group, intimacy begins to disappear. That is because the more people in a group, the more lines of communication there are. We believe that it's community, based on the power of the Holy Spirit that enables this church to carry out its mission. In order for each person to live in community, the cells must multiply into two separate cells (just like a living cell in the human body does). This way, there is always room for more people to join the fellowship and experience community life.

Leaders Are Called To Serve

Just as Jesus gave us the divine example through servanthood, our leaders are servants. Their ministry is to serve God and His people. They must not aspire to position or power, and they must lead by example. There is no hierarchy in our leadership structure. It is simply a team of men who are accountable to God and to each other for the decisions they make and the ministry they oversee. Click here to learn more about our leadership structure and our Servant Community.

Church Leadership Is Organized For Effective Shepherding

One man can only effectively lead a few people. In order for ministry to be carried out by the whole body together, no individual can carry too much responsibility. None of our leaders are directly responsible for shepherding more than fifteen people at one time. Our structure is broken down into smaller, workable units which makes our ministry more effective.

Interns Are Developed At Every Level Of Leadership

In order for our structure to carry on, leadership must be continually developed. We develop interns at every level of leadership. These interns learn by doing ministry together with their trainer. Then, when our cells multiply, an intern is ready to become a new leader, because he has been proven in ministry.

The Church Can Survive Persecution

If persecution should come, the church can survive because of the cell structure. It doesn't need buildings or programs. It will continue to be the body of Christ, carrying out the work of Christ, regardless of whether or not the whole church can meet together. This has been proven in churches throughout the world (most notably in China).

Grow First, Then Provide The Necessary Facilities

Since our emphasis is on people, we don't need buildings in order to carry out our mission. As the church grows in number, we will build the necessary facilities when the time comes. This enables us to use our material resources wisely, rather than be indebted to a building project. It also prepares us to build facilities that will meet our practical needs.

Christ Indwells, Empowers, And Uses His Church

Jesus Christ is the Head of the body. He has chosen to use His church to accomplish His purpose, in His power. We expect Him to work in us and through us as we yield to Him. We don't make plans and ask Him to bless them. Instead, He leads and we follow. He initiates His work, and allows us the privilege of being involved with Him. In short, church life is the presence, power, and purpose of Jesus Christ.

The Criteria For Success Is New Testament Community

We believe that success is not a tangible thing, like a number. Instead, it is the process of growth and obedience to God. Our priority is bringing glory to God in all things. Faithfulness and obedience to His Word produce New Testament community. New Testament community is the lifestyle of the church. When we have New Testament community, we are successful no matter how large our church grows in number. Success depends on God.