Gig Harbor, Washington
Overview:
Believers Fellowship is a vibrant, biblically-rooted nondenominational church in Gig Harbor, WA. The church was founded in 1978 in a living room and has grown to a church with 500-600 weekly attendance spread between two Sunday morning worship services. We are generationally diverse with a significant number of young families. Relationships are strengthened in small groups and ministry teams. We are known in our community for our strong biblical teaching, our top-notch children and youth ministries, and our strong cadre of committed believers ministering in their various spheres.
Mission:
Worship God in Spirit and Truth.
Grow in authentic relationship with God and each other.
Share the life-changing truth of Jesus with grace.
Strategic Priorities:
1. Worship God in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23-24, Rev 7:9-10, Heb 13:15, Rom 12:1)
Inter-generational, participatory worship that engages the heart and mind.
Spiritually formative, biblically-rooted songs and prayers.
Biblical, Christ-Centered preaching that engages both believers and unbelievers.
Celebrating communion and believers baptism.
Truth, beauty, and excellence for the glory of God.
2. Grow in Authentic Relationship with God and Each Other (Eph 2:20-22, 4:15-16; Ecc 4:9-10; Gal 6:2)
Promote the next step for spiritual growth for every person at every age.
Foster friendships, mentorship, and discipleship in vibrant small group settings.
Equip saints for the work of ministry (Eph 4:11-14).
3. Share the Life-Changing Truth of Jesus with Grace (Matt 28:18-20; James 2:14-17; Luke 14:12-14)
Share Jesus with our lives, words, and actions.
Give, share, and serve in our community and beyond.
Follow Jesus’ ministry to the “least of these” (Matt 25:40).
Values:
Humility, Authenticity, Honesty, Servant-Heartedness, Personal Growth, Accountability
Doctrine:
We believe that the Bible is God's Word and, as such, our supreme authority for life and worship. Believers Fellowship stands firmly within historic Christian orthodoxy, embracing Christian teaching as set forth in the creeds. Beyond this we look to be open-handed with issues that the Bible does not address specifically, and close-handed with issues that the Bible addresses clearly. Our doctrinal statement consists of foundational Christian doctrines and is our attempt to faithfully summarize biblical truth in our time. Some distinctives of our church are that we teach and practice believers baptism, follow the elder model of church government, have weekly communion, and are complementarian. We view our statement "Human Sexuality and the Gospel" as simple adherence to biblical teaching with regards to human sexuality, the image of God, the reality of sin, and our need for Jesus (we all need Him!). With respect to more particular doctrines beyond our basic doctrinal statement, we invite believers to search the Scriptures together and be united at the foot of the cross. We do not rally around particular political parties or agendas, we rally around the cross and our identity as God's people on mission for His glory.
Demographics and Staffing:
We are a multigenerational church with up to four generations of family members worshiping together! Weekly attendance averages 500-600, with one quarter of our people being children. We have lots of families in our community and lots of families in our church. If we count people who attend once or twice a month, we have 1000-1200 people who would consider our church to be their church home. Our Family Ministry Team is robust, consisting of a part time Children's Ministries Director, three part time Children's Ministry Associates, and one full time Student Ministries Director. Additionally, we are in the process of hiring a High School Ministry Associate. We typically bring in 3-4 interns to serve during the summer months, and also have year-long residency programs. We have Middle School and High School students who gather mid-week. We are known in our community for our MomCo program (formerly MOPS) that also meets mid-week, and our summer VBS program. In addition to all the grandparents, families and children, God has seen fit recently to add some singles and single parents in their 20s to our midst, for which we are grateful. We have some skilled interim worship leaders. We look forward to our new lead pastor participating in hiring a permanent worship leader.
"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
Eph 3:20-21