Ministries
We provide opportunities that help each person grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. We also provide opportunities to serve others.
In our church, community groups aren’t simply a program, rather they provide the shape of how we follow Jesus. While they might vary in composition (families, couples, singles, men, women, youth, children, etc) they are each designed as a small web of meaningful relationships in which we find genuine Christian fellowship together through our study of Scripture, prayer, meals, and ongoing care for each other. We think of group life as our first ‘line of defense’ as a believing community. In our groups, we suffer together, counsel one another, serve each other, reach out to our neighbors together, and encourage one another with the promises of God in the gospel. Community groups truly are where the ‘one-anothers’ of the New Testament take place. For a smaller-sized church, we have a surprising amount of opportunities to connect with a group throughout the week (please see this link in order to find further information on one that’s right for you). Life is complicated, calendars are often full, and we live busy lives as a result. But it’s been our experience that we are too busy not to be a part of a community group. If you have further questions about what community groups are, or how they work, we would love to speak with you. Please contact one of our elders to learn more.
Children's Discipleship
Jesus said in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” It is our joy to partner with parents to bring their children to Jesus. We do this through selecting Biblically faithful children's discipleship resources, such as Truth78, to invite our children to know, treasure and follow Jesus.
We are thankful to have a congregation with many children. We encourage all parents to train their children to participate in the Sunday worship gathering.
We have Bible studies for children at 9 am.
We provide nursery for children up to age 3 for the entire worship service, which includes play, snacks, prayer, Bible reading, and worship. For children who remain in the service, we provide a children’s bulletins to help them connect with the service. Every week, we memorize and recite Scripture, using the Truth78 Fighter Verse sets.
Outside of Sunday mornings, the youth meet for a community group on Sunday afternoon, where they study the Bible or work through various book studies on biblical topics. A number of our families also participate in Awana or Bible Study Fellowship programs at other churches throughout the week.
Our church library is full of resources to aid parents in discipling their children and to help children learn from God’s written Word about the living Word, Jesus, and what it means to be disciples of Jesus in all areas of life.
Missions
Our mission to be and make disciples of Jesus compels us to actively participate in the advance of the gospel among the nations. Over the years, that commitment has manifested itself in different ways. The Lord has enabled us to commission families from our own number as a sending church for the global cause of Christ. We've also partnered with missionaries from other congregations as a supporting church. It is our joy currently to serve alongside brothers and sisters for the sake of the Great Commission who are making disciples in Croatia, Bulgaria, and Japan, among native and refugee peoples here in the U.S., and those who equip global church leaders through theological education. Each of these households are an extension of our church's mission and ministry both nationally and internationally. We are thrilled to be a part of God's work in their lives.
Compassion
While our church is committed to celebrating and communicating the good news of Jesus Christ, we are also passionate about demonstrating that good news. Ministries of mercy have been an integral part of our care for one another as well as our surrounding community for many years now. As an EFCA congregation, we believe that God commands us to love him supremely and others sacrificially as we live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor, and justice for the oppressed. It's our conviction that the gospel is powerfully proclaimed when our witness to the world comes home to the lives of others in both word and deed. By God's grace, we have launched a meal ministry, maintain an adoption fund, participate in Compassion International child sponsorships, and pro-life initiatives through our partnership with New Life Family Services in the Twin Cities.