Bend Community Church
Mission:
· To plant a Bible-based, small group focused, church that lives out the Great Commission in Central Oregon.
· Making Christ-like disciples in our communities.
Alternative Model of Church:
· What does it mean to be a small group focused church?
· Making disciples happens best in small groups. We will call them Community Groups. The Community Groups will meet every week, usually on Sunday.
· The vast majority of the resources of Bend Community Church will always go to support the Community Groups, including having a part-time pastor and support staff. The Community Groups will have intentional disciple-making, awesome childcare, and outreach activities.
· Most Community Groups will take place in homes, but they could happen in a coffee shop, business, Mt. Bachelor, or Phil’s Trail parking lot--wherever the Lord is calling us to make disciples in our communities.
· The Large Group gathering, or Corporate Worship Service, will take place periodically, with all the community groups coming together for a corporate service that will include preaching and music. We will simply rent an existing church for this service.
In Sync with God’s Heart and Cultural Trends:
· Hebrews exhorts all believers to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” The body of Christ is meant to cultivate close relationships in small groups, where we can best “spur one another on.”
· Interestingly, cultural trends are also revealing that this type of community and relationships are what non-churched people are yearning for as well.
· Dr. Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay of the S.B.C said this: “In 2014 we will see a decided shift from nearly two decades of the ‘worship revolution’ to the ‘small group revolution’… small groups will have a greater emphasis than the previous quarter century.” (January 6, 2014)
· George Barna says, “A faith revolution is redefining ‘Church.’”
We are fired up to see how God is going to use Bend Community Church in fulfilling the Great Commission and making Christ-like disciples.
Mission:
· To plant a Bible-based, small group focused, church that lives out the Great Commission in Central Oregon.
· Making Christ-like disciples in our communities.
Alternative Model of Church:
· What does it mean to be a small group focused church?
· Making disciples happens best in small groups. We will call them Community Groups. The Community Groups will meet every week, usually on Sunday.
· The vast majority of the resources of Bend Community Church will always go to support the Community Groups, including having a part-time pastor and support staff. The Community Groups will have intentional disciple-making, awesome childcare, and outreach activities.
· Most Community Groups will take place in homes, but they could happen in a coffee shop, business, Mt. Bachelor, or Phil’s Trail parking lot--wherever the Lord is calling us to make disciples in our communities.
· The Large Group gathering, or Corporate Worship Service, will take place periodically, with all the community groups coming together for a corporate service that will include preaching and music. We will simply rent an existing church for this service.
In Sync with God’s Heart and Cultural Trends:
· Hebrews exhorts all believers to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” The body of Christ is meant to cultivate close relationships in small groups, where we can best “spur one another on.”
· Interestingly, cultural trends are also revealing that this type of community and relationships are what non-churched people are yearning for as well.
· Dr. Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay of the S.B.C said this: “In 2014 we will see a decided shift from nearly two decades of the ‘worship revolution’ to the ‘small group revolution’… small groups will have a greater emphasis than the previous quarter century.” (January 6, 2014)
· George Barna says, “A faith revolution is redefining ‘Church.’”
We are fired up to see how God is going to use Bend Community Church in fulfilling the Great Commission and making Christ-like disciples.
