Vision, Mission, Values and Beliefs
Our Vision: Love | Invite | Flourish | Root
We exist to love our city and to invite our neighbours to flourish by rooting our lives in the outrageous love and life of Jesus.
- Jeremiah 29:7, 1 John 4:7-8, Ephesians 3:17, Col 1:17, Col. 1:28-29, John 13:34-35, John 3:16-17
Our Mission: From Jesus
Jesus’ Great Commandment and Great Commission:
- Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
- Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Our Values: Community | Diversity | Truth | Prayer | Transformation
At Pilgrim we value…
- Authentic Community: Meaningful relationships matter. Because of Jesus, we are a spiritual family. We believe that it’s vital for people to gather regularly, both in smaller group settings and as a larger community, where we provide (that are) safe places to question and to connect deeply with others. Hebrews 10:24-25, Psalm 133, Ephesians 4:16, Acts 2:42-4
- Diversity: We want to reflect the Kingdom that we belong to as believers, which is made up of people from all walks of life. Jesus meets us wherever we are on our spiritual journey, and His love brings together individuals across social, cultural, and generational divides. Revelation 7:9-10, Psalm 145:4, Acts 17:26-27, Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 4:4-7, 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, Joel 2:28
- Biblical Truth: We are guided and grounded by Jesus as revealed in scripture. We believe that the Bible shapes our understanding of life. We wrestle with doubts and fears, coming to truth through scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 8:31-32, Hebrews 4:12, Isaiah 40:8, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 4:4, Luke 24:44-45, Psalm 19:7-11
- Prayer: We align ourselves with God’s purpose and power through regular prayer. God is actively speaking to us and desires for us to hear and to respond. He invites all of us into relationship with him through prayer. Acts 4:23-31, Matthew 6:5-18, Romans 8:26-27, Jeremiah 33:3, John 5:14, Psalm 145:18, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Ephesians 6:18
- Transformation: Jesus changes everything! We are saved from the power of sin by His death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit does an ongoing work in us so that we reflect the fullness of Jesus, enabling us to be catalysts of change in the world. 2 Peter 1:3-4, Col. 1:13, Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 1: 10-14, Colossians 1: 10-14, Eph 4:12, John 10:10, Ephesians 4:22-24, John 3:16, Romans 6:1-8
Our Strategies
- Gathering as a whole on Sundays for worship, teaching and a warm "on-ramp" for those curious about Jesus.
- Gathering in smaller groups (home churches) to become a warm, authentic, spiritual family, discern and work through the Sunday teaching.
- Making safe spaces for our next generations to learn about Jesus and grow into authentic faith.
- Local and global compassion engagement to make God's love real.
- Ministry teams that make the above happen and special events, projects, etc.
Our Beliefs - As a church in the Believer's Church tradition we use creeds/statements in a centre-set way. Our bylaws list the
North American Baptist Conference shared statement of faith. The link goes to the full version, this is the preamble + summary-version:
Preface
Baptists, since their beginnings, repeatedly have composed confessions, which expressed the doctrinal consensus among related churches. In principle, however, Baptists always have insisted that no statement of faith can be considered creedally binding even upon concurring congregations.
The purpose of their doctrinal summaries was to explain to other Christians and to the larger society what Baptists believed and practiced. Within and among Baptist churches, statements of faith also provided a standard for instruction, counsel and fellowship.
We, as the North American Baptist Conference, presently feel the need to state more fully our Baptist understanding of the Christian faith. The purpose that guided us in writing and the use that we intend for this declaration are to:
- further the sense of identity and the spirit of unity within our North American Baptist Conference by declaring our common doctrinal understanding
- provide a basis for doctrinal instruction within our conference
- provide a basis for doctrinal discussions in the hiring of conference personnel
- serve as a reference point when opinions differ
- provide a basis for doctrinal discussion in admitting new churches and new pastors into our various associations
- provide a doctrinal guide for new churches
- give a doctrinal witness beyond our conference
In continuity with our immediate forefathers and the larger fellowship of Baptists throughout
history, we seek to practice and propagate by God’s grace the following convictions:
- We believe the Bible is God’s Word given by divine inspiration, the record of God’s revelation of Himself to humanity (II Timothy 3:16).
- We believe in the one living and true God, perfect in wisdom, sovereignty, holiness, justice, mercy and love (I Timothy 1:17; Psalm 86:15; Deuteronomy 32:3-4).
- We believe God created an order of spiritual beings called angels to serve Him and do His will (Psalm 148:1-5; Colossians 1:16).
- We believe God created man in His own image to have fellowship with Himself and to be steward over His creation (Genesis 1:26-28).
- We believe salvation is redemption by Christ of the whole person from sin and death (II Timothy 1:9-10; I Thessalonians 5:23).
- We believe the Church is the body of which Christ is the head and all who believe in Him are members (Ephesians 1:22-23; Romans 12:4-5).
- We believe religious liberty, rooted in Scripture, is the inalienable right of all individuals to freedom of conscience with ultimate accountability to God (Genesis 1:27; John 8:32; II Corinthians 3:17; Romans 8:21; Acts 5:29).
- We believe Christians, individually and collectively, are salt and light in society (Matthew 5:13-16).
- We believe God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring all things to their appropriate end and establish the new heaven and the new earth (Ephesians 1:9-10, Revelation 21:1).
Nicene Creed 381
*Note there is quite a bit of debate on the roles of creeds and confessions in the Baptist, Pentecostal and Anabaptist churches. It is our contention that the rejection of creedal formation by parts of the church was an over-correction because of misuse instead of proper use. Today we veer into misuse of the non-orthodox kinds more than violent enforcement.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
English Language Liturgical Commission translation http://englishtexts.org/
