Our Mission and Strategy
There are hundreds of thousands of local churches around the world, over 300,000 in the United States alone. Not surprisingly, there are many different reasons that people in churches cite for why their church exists today.
Each church should think clearly Biblically about its mission and then engage in the world in keeping with the directives that come from the Lord Jesus through His Word.
First EFC has a simple, central mission – To glorify God through life transformation. By this we mean that God is both rightly honored and more fully known when people’s lives are changed through believing the gospel and growing in following--personally and with others--the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus we exist as a church, and do what we do, in Biblical, Spirit-empowered obedience to Jesus to bring about that transformation in the lives of children, young people, and adults in every stage of life.
Our approach in the Mission
First, we focus on disciple-making.
A disciple is someone who, having become a believer, steps into the journey of personally becoming increasingly like Christ in character, obedience, and service to others, and devoted to helping others become the same (Luke 6:40, 1 Cor 11:1, 2 Timothy 2:2). Church activities, then, need to be purposed to nurture and further develop disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). This means we will use an intentional strategy to accomplish each aspect of our purpose. Our activities are evaluated in keeping with effectiveness in developing disciples. And, we will modify activities that ineffectively fulfill our purpose.
Second, we engage those core ministries which are effective in making disciples.
Sharing the love of Christ and the gospel of Christ in winsome, relational ways is an essential first step in making disciples, and will be pursued using a variety of methods (1 Cor 9:19-23, 2 Cor 5:18-20, Col 4:5-6, 1 Pet 3:15). People’s growth in Christ is best facilitated in the context of the small group (Jesus utilized the small group with his disciples). Such groups provide mutuality, diversity, and relational accountability. They function best as team work and interdependence over individualism and dependence (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) are emphasized. Moreover, supplementing these essential core ministries are a number of nurturing and equipping ministries at various levels of commitment to encourage a process of growth for all disciples (John 1:35-46, Mark 1:16-20, 3:13-14, John 15:7-8, Matt 28:18-20).
Third, we utilize regular gatherings to build fellowship and unity.
These include Sunday worship celebrations and open groups (i.e., Adult Fellowships, Sunday School classes, etc.) as essential to promoting personal growth, corporate unity, and fellowship in the larger church community and for reaching people who are presently outside the church.
Our Strategic Vision
In this first decade of the 3rd millennium (2001-2010), we have been directed by God in the following ways.
#1 Become a community of disciples that prays for and lives redemptively with others.
#2 Biblically define and engage in a lifestyle that results in greater Christlikeness
#3 Be known in our community as a people marked by sacrificial love toward others
#4 Multiply laborers and leaders in the work of the Kingdom
#5 Secure and relocate to a ministry home campus for long term health and growth
#6 Teach, practice and plan for good stewardship of our God-entrusted resources
#7 Develop and deploy effective, equipping ministry staff for the Body
#8 Plant additional churches in response to opportunities present in our region
Current Emphases 2005-2007
Over these 10 years, we have zeroed in on aspects this Vision 2010 plan for particular development. In our current stage, we are
