Our Values
Jesus is our message.
Jesus is the hope of the world, full of grace and truth, the only Name by which we are saved, and to know Him is to know life to the full. He is the best thing we have to offer, and a message is meant to be proclaimed. Therefore, we proclaim the gospel boldly and seek to show people Jesus in all that we do. (Romans 1:16)
Scripture is our foundation.
We believe God is brilliant, His words are true, and He reveals Himself through the Bible. And because we long to know Him more, we build our lives upon His words, seeking always to know, understand, and obey His voice above all others. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Prayer is our posture.
For us, prayer is not just a practice; it’s our posture before God. In humility, we recognize that we are dependent upon Him for our every breath. Whether speaking or listening, waiting or working, we don’t want to do anything without Him at the center of our thoughts. So we fix our hearts on Him in prayer that we might keep in step with His Spirit in all that we do. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
The Character of Christ is our aim.
As disciples of Jesus, we want to know Him, live like Him, and teach others to do the same. We hold to God’s promise that He Himself will sanctify us, using all that we encounter in this life to form in us the glorious character of Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Authentic Relationships are our way of life.
We believe the gospel takes root in our lives as we come authentically to God and one another. We speak the truth in love. We confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. We rejoice together. We mourn together. We apologize and forgive. We build one another up in all that we say and do. (Romans 12:9-21)
The Next Generation is our future.
We are always looking to the next generation of disciples who might come to know Jesus and follow Him. From men and women of all ages to the little kids in our midst, we have a heart for impacting the future with the work we do now. And we are particularly passionate about planting churches in university communities so we might always be impacting the next generation of college students. (2 Timothy 2:2)
Generosity is our joy.
To encounter Jesus is to come alive with joy and gratitude. As people who are in awe of the generosity of God, we cannot help but give generously in turn. And having tasted the riches of His grace, it is our joy to share our time, talents, and treasure with others. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)
Justice is our charge.
Living righteously with one another and in relationship with our neighbor is not a suggestion. It is our charge. And where there are acts of injustice and systems of oppression, we are called to engage prayerfully, courageously, honorably, and with a listening ear. (Micah 6:8)
Church-Planting is our passion.
We want to be a mother church, not a mega-church. That means we plant churches that plant churches. In this way, we get to see the Kingdom of God spread to new people and places, and we continuously fan the flames of our own faith as well. (Matthew 28:18-20)
Our Vision
We are a multi-generational church with a heart for the next generation. Everything we do is about seeing Christ alive in us and Christ alive in others. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” We dream of that abundant life breaking out in the hearts of those who call the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor area home. We dream of men and women in every generation being caught up in this redemptive adventure and living sent as disciples who make disciples, imparting to each one a lifestyle of worship, community, and mission.
Through a lifestyle of worship…
We dream of showing people Jesus.
We believe there is no greater end than to know and love Jesus forever. To this end, we eagerly offer to Jesus all that we are, have, and do so that others might come to know him too. We are believing God to see one thousand people place their faith in Jesus and countless more liberated from the bondage of sin and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Men, women and children of all ages will come alive to the adventure of knowing and following Jesus as their highest joy and greatest love.
Through a lifestyle of community…
We dream of equipping for life.
We will see thousands discover what it means to belong and to be the church. We are believing God to see three thousand people learn and live our discipleship pathway designed to lay a foundation in every member for a lasting lifestyle of worship, community, and mission. We will invest in the next generation through life-on-life discipleship, multi-generational mentoring, and gospel-centered theological training. We will train one hundred new missionaries for vocational ministry and church-planting and equip everyone to serve bi-vocationally with a heart to join Jesus wherever He leads.
Through a lifestyle of mission…
We dream of loving as Jesus loved.
We long to see God’s Kingdom come on Earth, for wrongs to be made right, and for all to become who God created them to be. We will love our neighbors both locally and globally, actively seeking out ways we can help meet needs of all kinds. We will focus on establishing and nurturing meaningful local partnerships with the elderly and the southeast Ann Arbor community as well as international partnerships with Amani ya Juu in Kenya and churches in El Salvador. We will do this with a posture of humility, an eagerness to listen, and a commitment to collaborate with others.
With a commissioning to Go…
We dream of living sent.
We want to be a mother church and measure success by our sending capacity, not our seating capacity. Every Sunday will be a sending Sunday that reminds us all to live sent in our dorms, our homes, our neighborhoods, and our circles of influence. Every year, through graduations, career changes, and family moves we will send individuals and families on to new works with Christ all over the U.S. and the world. And because church-planting is one of the most effective ways to spread the gospel, every few years we will send out teams of people to start new churches in college towns, believing God to see four churches planted and a fifth planned in this decade.
We are a people with the greatest news the world has ever heard, with the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, and with the love of the Father that knows no bounds. Our dream is that the whole world would be caught up in the redemptive adventure of following Jesus.
