Mission and Vision Statements

Here is our mission statement.

We exist as a church in order to love God, serve others, disciple one another, share the gospel with unbelievers, unite the churches, and care for God’s creation. At the moment these principles cease to be our way of life, our mission has failed and the ember has faded.

And here is our vision statement, in a more conventional format.

We burn for a place where outsiders are insiders, where nobodies are somebodies, where the rejected are accepted, where the lonely find friends, and where the downtrodden find allies.

We burn for a community of regular people who love God and each other in a way that costs them something. The love of the Christian community is agape love—love that is self-sacrificing.

We burn for the churches of Toledo to work together in unity, and for the leaders of those churches to be reconciled to one another through the forgiveness we have all received at the cross.

We burn for people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and have their eternal destinies changed by the forgiveness of their sins.

We burn for followers of Jesus to grow in maturity and character, so that the fruits of the Holy Spirit characterize their lives.

We burn for God. Our lives are an exercise in passionate worship of our Creator, always calling to mind the wonderful things He has done for us, consummated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

We burn to raise up leaders and help them find what makes them come alive, so that they will be well-equipped for ministry.

We burn for all Christians to live together in unity and self-sacrificing love, so that God’s people might influence the world and not be influenced by it.

We burn for the neglected subcultures of Toledo. We have a heart to reach out to the groups of people who are often overlooked, including skaters, artists, and gamers.

We burn for a place where the hurting and burdened can find biblical counseling; where battered women and children can find shelter; where the hungry and poor can find food and clothing; where anyone can find time alone with God; where the community can gather in a coffee shop environment that gives local artists a place to be seen.

We burn to link arms with other local churches and ministries to provide that place.

We burn for a vocational camp that teaches kids practical skills they can use in the workforce.

We burn for a retreat center where leaders can be reenergized for the ministry.

We burn for God’s creation. Mankind is the steward of this planet, and we want to see our parks and rivers clean.