WHY ANOTHER CHURCH IN CHARLESTON?
Charleston is a city with a rich history, steeped in southern hospitality and surrounded by beauty as far as the eye can behold. Though Charleston is an old city, it has a bright future as new people and new businesses continue to flock to this port city on the coast of SC to enjoy all of the beauty and blessing that the area has to offer. While the Holy City clothes herself on the outside with her rich history and breathtaking beauty, underneath it all is a city full of people who are broken, divided, lonely and lost. Charleston is a city just like all other cities with people who are trying to find their identity and worth in the beauty of God’s creation and what they can build with their own hands. These are just the kind of people that Jesus came into the world to save. As St Augustine of Hippo said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” We are planting a new church in Charleston to point the hearts of Charleston to the hope of the gospel, that they might be overwhelmed by the beauty of Jesus and believe in Him and have life in his name. Jesus alone can make broken people, places and things beautiful.
We are planting a new church in Charleston so that people can experience what it means to belong and live in a true community where Jesus Christ is experienced in his presence and power. This is a community where, by the Spirit, Jesus ministers through one another so that people are cared for and encouraged to live a life that glorifies God. This is a community where Christ transforms and changes our lives as individuals, as small communities, and the larger communities of which the we are a part. We aim to show Charleston that the gospel will transform the city by offering salvation for sinners, giving the lonely a place to belong, lifting up the poor, and reconciling people who otherwise would not be able to live together. God sent His Son into the world to draw us into relationship with Himself and then He sends us out to lovingly engage the world for the cause of Christ. The whole Bible tells the story of God’s mission through His people to engage His world for the glory of His name and the restoration of His creation. The Church is the primary instrument God has called and ordained to carry out His mission in the world. We are committed to being in the world, not of the world, for the world and all for the glory of God.