What is a mission and vision statement for a church? Most churches have one whether they know it or not. The mission and vision of the church is a short statement describing what that church believes they are called to do and how they believe they are called to do it. They are the church’s marching orders and should shape everything the church does. A good mission and vision statement should simply restate what the Bible says the church’s mission and vision are. At Covenant Grace we believe one of the clearest mission statements for the church was given by her resurrected Lord right before he ascended to heaven in Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus called his church to make disciples by going into the world, teaching, and baptizing. This is the essence of CGC’s mission and vision.
We seek to make disciples to the glory of God by seeing Jesus (II Cor. 3:18) and making him known. We believe the Bible has given us a basic blueprint for how to do this. Historically, this has been called the “ordinary means of grace.” The ordinary means of grace are the pathways God has created for us to encounter God through his Word and Spirit in the gospel. The Bible lays out six primary means:
Preaching - the expository declaration of the Word of God to his people.
Baptism - the initial act of discipleship whereby the believer publicly identifies with Christ in his death and resurrection and the church affirms that person’s faith.
Communion or the Lord’s Supper - A covenantal meal instituted by Jesus on the night he was betrayed for his church where believers remember, partake, and declare the broken body and shed blood of Christ through taking of bread and the cup.
Prayer - the response of God’s people to their King in adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.
Singing - the joyful response of a redeemed people.
Fellowship - the love and care that the members of Christ’s body have for one another.
We believe these are God’s primary means of discipleship and what we emphasize. Along with these means of grace or discipleship we also emphasize four core values that define who we are:
Gospel Centrality - Everything in our church flows from this value. Everything is about Jesus. The whole Bible is about Jesus and his work to save his people from his sins. Jesus is the center of the church, of our worship, and of our lives and we seek to glorify him in everything.
Confessional - Because the gospel is central we want to know Jesus deeply as a husband or wife wants to know their spouse. This is a comprehensive and deep knowledge that has been handed down to us in the centuries and millennia after Jesus founded the church. We don’t have new ideas about God. We have old ones. And so we have adopted the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith as our standard of what we believe the Bible says about God and the gospel. The Bible is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of faith and practice. The confession doesn’t replace the Bible. But it serves as an anchor and protection and goal.
Communal - The gospel creates a new family, a new body, that is united to Christ in faith. This body has local expressions in the church and each member is called to care for one another and to protect, preserve, and propagate the gospel. When God saves people he saves individuals and then he calls them into a local church. We need each other and God has given each of us gifts and callings to serve one another. We weep when one of us weeps. We rejoice when one of us rejoices. We hurt when one of us hurts.
Missional - Just as Jesus came into the world to save sinners, so too we seek to go into the world to save sinners. The Sunday morning gathering is primarily for believers to disciple one another and grow in the knowledge and love of God. From there we are sent out to our neighborhoods, communities, schools, jobs, coffee shops, gyms, clubs, etc. to share the good news of what Jesus has done for us.
No church is perfect but God’s grace is sufficient, and, by his grace, we hope to point one another to him for his glory and for our good.
