The grand story of all stories

We view the Bible as God’s grand story of creation to new creation, which provides us with a context for understanding both the world around us and Jesus’ plan to establish a people that belong to Him, who are one-minded about His plan and are networked together across cities, nations and the world. This is our story together by faith, since we are now a part of that new family. It is our desire to live in a way that is consistent with Jesus' story, genuinely faithful to Him, and driven by meeting the needs of those around us in ways that are appropriate to the people and cultures we live among, and which will ultimately point to the hope we share, the hope in the renewal of all things.  

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Messy, but real.. we are a family of families

We believe Jesus introduced something totally new.  He established a new family, made up of all peoples, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Jesus selected family or household as the social structure of His church.  This understanding forms the core identity of who we are together. 

The goal of everyone in God’s household should be to become mature by learning and mastering the first principles of the faith through comprehensive life development, ordering their own households well, so that they are prepared to participate and lead in God's household. 

This means local churches should live like actual extended families, sharing meals, resources, activities, and engaging in good enterprises together, so that they are visibly contributing to and benefitting their communities and cities.  This does not look like a members-only club who adhere to a strict set of rules, while trying to convince others to sign-up.  Rather, it looks like a dynamic group of people who share their entire lives, their trials, triumphs, weariness and excitement,and live genuinely and transparently with each other while prioritizing the needs of those in their cities, regions and beyond. These simple-churches, located in neighborhoods and clustered together in cities, are also networked to other church clusters across throughout North America and around the world and develop deep and meaningful partnerships with these other churches, through key leaders.

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A radical, new way of life… seeking the welfare of our city and the world

Loving God and loving others are two sides of the same coin.  If we genuinely love Jesus, then we should be known throughout our neighborhoods and cities by our love for one another and for those around us. We want to be known by our authentic faith, firm hope, and expressive (kerygmatic) love, rooted in the plan that Jesus revealed to Paul.  We see this plan modeled in the churches of the first century, who were was shaped by the Way of Christ and His Apostles.  We believe that by ordering our households well and embracing opportunities to engage in creative, daring, innovative enterprises together that we will be able to effectively build genuine, loving relationships with those who live in our neighborhoods and cities and that through these sincere relationships and deep friendships, the doors will be thrown wide open for God's Spirit to add to our number by multiplying simple churches (Acts 2:42-47).  While we maintain a City Center facility located in Clifton, NJ, we are in essence a growing network of strong simple churches and clusters of churches throughout New Jersey, who participate with a global network of churches in the unfolding plan of God.  This one-minded partnership that extends across churches and networks with various histories, theological traditions, and denominational ties, is a living testimony to the world and declares that new creation has begun now. 

 

Participating fully in Jesus' mission... globally

To this end we will identify, equip, and send gifted, skilled co‑workers from our church family and will partner with other like‑minded leaders and churches both here and abroad, with a strategic emphasis on missionary teams and church-networks.  As a church, we have a strategic partnership with BILD International and the Antioch School of Church Planting and Leadership Development and together with them, we are rooted in the church-based philosophy of the early church which established the New Testament pattern.  We specifically participate as a partner with BILD International in their Accelerating Church Planting Initiative to see churches planted in Northern New Jersey and across North America, engaging with potential church planters who are interested in rapid, intense training to help them develop an effective strategy for their ministry context.