Our church's singular main value is gospel centrality.
The Reality: The word “gospel” is repeated twice in our vision statement and three times in our mission statement.
The rationale: Luke 24:27, Romans 1:16, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, etc.
The Mission & Vision
Our Mission: Autumn Ridge Community Church exists to glorify God by training people to learn the gospel, love the gospel, and live out the gospel: in our lives, in our community, and to the ends of the earth.
Our Vision: To see a gospel-shaped globe come through a gospel-shaped Gilmer:
- To see Gilmer County look more like the New Heaven and the New Earth (see Rev. 21:1-5).
- To see Heaven come to Earth as the Lord sends people, prayers, and resources from Gilmer County to the Nations.
To understand more about our mission and vision, tune in to our Ridgeline sermon series!
Our Values
The following six values describe how gospel centrality is fleshed out in the life of our church.
We Are Gracious: Autumn’s beauty is due to the diverse mixture of trees which bear leaves from a broad spectrum of colors. The same can be said of the church: our beauty is not found in uniformity, but in unity-in-diversity. Grace entails loving and pursuing unity with others who exhibit different levels of spiritual maturity/development, endure different struggles, have different gifts, and hold different convictions on matters in which Scripture is silent (Romans 14:1-23).
We Are Communal: As trees stand in close proximity upon a ridge, we believe in the God-ordained power of both Christian fellowship and covenant church membership: for God’s glory, for our good, for the love of our neighbors, and for the sake of the world (Matt. 16:13-20, Matt. 18:15-20, Eph. 4:1-6, 1 Peter 2:9-12, etc.).
We Are Missional: As the trees atop a towering ridgeline serve as a vantage point for navigation and direction, we endeavor that our life together will point the people of our community out of darkness and towards the marvelous light of Christ (1 Peter 2:9-12). And as leaves fly off of trees at the conclusion of the autumn season, we believe that our witness consists of more than attracting people to “come and see” our life together; we are called of God to “go and be” Christ’s witnesses in our lives, in our community, and to the ends of the earth (Matt. 28:18-20).
We Are Communal: As trees stand in close proximity upon a ridge, we believe in the God-ordained power of both Christian fellowship and covenant church membership: for God’s glory, for our good, for the love of our neighbors, and for the sake of the world (Matt. 16:13-20, Matt. 18:15-20, Eph. 4:1-6, 1 Peter 2:9-12, etc.).
We Are Missional: As the trees atop a towering ridgeline serve as a vantage point for navigation and direction, we endeavor that our life together will point the people of our community out of darkness and towards the marvelous light of Christ (1 Peter 2:9-12). And as leaves fly off of trees at the conclusion of the autumn season, we believe that our witness consists of more than attracting people to “come and see” our life together; we are called of God to “go and be” Christ’s witnesses in our lives, in our community, and to the ends of the earth (Matt. 28:18-20).
We Abide: Before leaves are in color, they bud and bloom through their connection to their source of life (the tree). Similarly, before the gospel calls us to bear fruit for Jesus, the gospel invites us to abide with Jesus – and in abiding, we bear much fruit that he desires (John 15:1-11).
We Grow: With trees, abiding leads to the leaves’ transformation. So it ought to be with us! Abiding in Christ doesn’t merely produce people who merely believe differently; rather, it produces people who are different – whose worldview (head), affections (heart), and actions (hands) are growing increasingly like those of Christ (Romans 12:1-2).
We Self-sacrifice: The beauty of autumn foliage results from leaves which are dying. In the same way, we believe that the Christ-life is most beautiful – for ourselves, for our brothers and sisters, and for the world – when it’s lived in a posture of self-sacrifice (Philippians 2:1-11).
We Grow: With trees, abiding leads to the leaves’ transformation. So it ought to be with us! Abiding in Christ doesn’t merely produce people who merely believe differently; rather, it produces people who are different – whose worldview (head), affections (heart), and actions (hands) are growing increasingly like those of Christ (Romans 12:1-2).
We Self-sacrifice: The beauty of autumn foliage results from leaves which are dying. In the same way, we believe that the Christ-life is most beautiful – for ourselves, for our brothers and sisters, and for the world – when it’s lived in a posture of self-sacrifice (Philippians 2:1-11).
