About Redeemer Church
Who we are
Redeemer is a community that invites people to live in the kingdom of God by practicing the way of Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we pursue friendship with God, formation of our whole selves, and the flourishing of others. We desire to become people of love and faithful presence, cultivating holistic renewal wherever we go.
What we value
The following words are our organizing principles of our community. They define our common ground and influence all aspects of our ministry. They are the manner in which we pursue friendship with God, spiritual formation, and the flourishing of our neighbors.
Rootedness.
We are stable and steady, grounded in historic orthodoxy and ancient Christian practice, committed to living in the story of Jesus and resistant to the dehumanizing forces of modern society.
Openness.
We foster a posture of teachability and compassion, extending welcome and mercy to ourselves and others, embodying Jesus’ gentle and humble spirit.
The Contemplative Way.
Prioritizing the unseen reality of God’s kingdom, we pay close attention to God’s presence and our inner selves, embracing a non-anxious and unhurried way of life.
Presence.
We strive to walk with people on their journey towards wholeness with a patient and relational presence that embodies the self-giving love of Jesus.
Practice.
We pursue intentional growth through embodied liturgical practices, seeking holistic formation of mind, body, soul, and spirit in a community.
Basic Beliefs
Confessional Statement
We affirm the Confessional Statement of The Gospel Coalition as a helpful and thorough statement of our theology.
Practical Distinctives
In addition to affirming the Confessional Statement of The Gospel Coalition, there are six other practical distinctives that may distinguish Redeemer from other churches who hold to our faith and theology. We highlight these issues because of their practical relevance to church practice and the wide spectrum of views within orthodox Christianity.
On Theological Tradition.
We locate ourselves within the Reformed Tradition, both theological and historically.
By reformed theology, we refer to a theology rooted in the major tenets of Protestantism -- the doctrine of Scripture, the sovereignty of God, the doctrine of salvation, and the necessity of evangelism.
By reformed history, we refer to the churches, confessions, and leaders who shaped the Reformed branches of Protestantism after the Reformation.
We view the work of salvation as fundamentally a work of God, from the foundation of the world through the end of time. This impacts our view of God, salvation, mankind, and the biblical storyline. Our preaching contains an emphasis on the sovereignty of God in all things.
On the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the continued work of the Holy Spirit in the church, distributing all kinds of spiritual gifts including sign gifts (healing, tongues, prophecy, etc). We believe the practice of the gifts is meant to be orderly and edifying to the Body.
On Church Governance.
We are an independent, self-governing church. Our governance practice is called plurality of elders. This means that we are governed by a group of at least three ordained elders who each together share the responsibility and authority of leadership. We also ordain male and female deacons to specific areas of servant leadership in the church.
On Baptism.
We believe baptism is the external sign of entrance into God’s covenant community. It is given with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. We only baptize people who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Recognizing the diversity of practice and conviction on this issue throughout church history, we do not require those who have been baptized in other church traditions to be re-baptized in order to join Redeemer.
On the Lord’s Table.
We affirm that God himself is a primary actor in the sacrament of the Lord’s Table. The bread and the cup are to be received as means of God’s grace, and God is present in a way that is both real and mysterious. We invite anyone who acknowledges Christ as Lord to participate at the Table.
On Gender.
We affirm that men and women are unequivocally equal in essence, dignity, and value. We also affirm that God created humans male and female to be distinct and mutually dependent. We seek to honor both of these convictions while acknowledging the longstanding difficulties and cultural assumptions that often inform church belief and practice. We believe that the home and the church (a spiritual household) will be healthiest as men and women are mutually dependent in their distinctiveness. At Redeemer, our practice is to ordain qualified men as elders who serve as spiritual fathers, and to ordain both men and women as deacons who lead and serve the church in various ways.