There are several important concepts and practices that we value that help to describe Urban Light Community Church.
We value the holistic values of the Kingdom. We value both evangelism and social justice. We believe that the Gospel encompasses the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of all people. We believe that the Gospel is nothing less than Jesus Christ’s reconciliation of all things in creation (Col. 1:15-20, Romans 8:19-22). This means that we value being responsible stewards of the creation God has given us, being peacemakers, meeting people’s physical needs with dignity, introducing people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, and developing our communities to look more like the new heavens and the new earth. We want to live out God’s Kingdom come and his will being done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Several guiding principles in this area are from the Christian Community Development Association – relocation, reconciliation and redistribution.
We value diversity. We believe that one of the marks of the authentic church is that people are reconciled to God and to each other (Gal. 3:38, Eph. 2:13-16, Acts 2:17-18, Revelation 7:9). This reconciliation occurs across diverse lines of separation – racial, cultural, socio-economic, political, etc. In Christ black and white, poor and rich, and male and female, are all one. It is unthinkable that people would be reconciled to God without loving their neighbor. And who is our neighbor? The one least like us (Luke 10:29-37). The world will know we are Christians by our love for one another (John 13:35). We value experiencing the reconciling power of Jesus Christ in our own midst, displayed to a world living separated from each other.
We value preaching through the Word. During our Sunday worship gatherings, an important aspect is the proclamation of the Scriptures, which are living and active – sharper than any sword (Heb. 4:12). Rather than taking a topical approach, which can easily stress only certain parts of the Bible, we value a chapter-by-chapter contextual approach to teaching through the Scriptures. In so doing, we are forced to deal with the full council of God and not just the parts with which we feel most comfortable. This also allows us to better glean the overall thrust and intent of a given passage as we see it in its fuller context. This also encourages members of the Body to follow along themselves, studying, learning, and living out the Word of God. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man (and woman) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
We value the leading and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Just as a marriage with no communication would be dead, so empty religion without the relationship of the Holy Spirit (who is the Counselor, Comforter, and Teacher) would be useless. We depend upon the leading of the Holy Spirit in all aspects of our church life and expect the Spirit of God to work through gifts, fruits, and supernatural ways in our midst. We try to listen to the Spirit, find out what he is doing, and join him in it. This means that our style of ministry depends heavily on what the Spirit is raising up and that our proclamation of the Word is not an empty recitation of rules – Word and Spirit together.
We value an empowering leadership structure. We do not want a bunch of institutional red tape to get in the way of God’s purposes. Therefore, we have a simple leadership structure in which those who are responsible for leading various aspects of the ministry are empowered to make decisions, build teams, and get about the work of ministry. These folks functions as deacons did in the early church (Acts 6). The overall vision of the church is guided by the pastor and the board of elders with the pastor equipping others into service and administrating the day to day operations of the church (Eph. 4). We have an advisory financial team that helps guide our stewardship of God’s resources. But most of all we realize that each member of the body of Christ is to live out the Gospel – the priesthood of all believers.
We value open, authentic, celebrative worship. Our worship times on Sundays are not to be dead, dull experiences, but the body of Christ gather together in joy and celebration at the works of God. Our music is joyous and contemporary. We have a worship band and a gospel choir. Our preaching is plain, straightforward, authentic, and strives to make the full council of God known through his Word guided by the Spirit. We value leaving room for dialogue. We pray together, lift up each other’s needs, and keep each other updated about what is going on through our community. We eat together every Sunday so that we are not just showing up for an event, but are building true community. But perhaps the most important part is that we attempt to match up our lives throughout the week with our proclamation on Sundays. All of our lives are worship to the Father and we want to be authentic in our walk.
We value the parish mentality of church life. Physical location is very important. It is very important where you live, where you meet together for worship, etc. Just as God did not keep himself separate from us, but became flesh in Jesus Christ through the incarnation (John 1:14), so we as the church seek to be the incarnational body of Christ. Rather than being a drive-in church, we live together so that our needs are met in a natural, authentic way by the body of Christ. We focus on the neighborhoods of urban Muncie that our families inhabit. We see ourselves as a local church tied to a local context. We also value proximity to each other as a natural way of building community and relationships. We know of each other’s lives and needs by living physically close to each other and others in need.
