Core Values

Stone-Gate Bible Fellowship is…

…an EVANGELICAL Church. That is, we believe that the good news of Jesus Christ is a message that needs to be proclaimed to the whole world.

…a BIBLICAL Church. That is, we believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God in all matters of faith and practice.

…a COMMUNITY Church. Stone-Gate Bible Fellowship welcomes worshippers from varied church backgrounds who love Jesus Christ and are committed to serving Him as their Lord and Savior.

…an INDEPENDENT Church. Stone-Gate Bible Fellowship is not officially linked to any denomination, council, or other organization. However, we consider ourselves spiritually related to all like-minded churches.

…a GROWING Church. Stone-Gate Bible Fellowship is a progressive church desiring to grow both spiritually and numerically! Because growth sometimes requires change, we are willing to be flexible and try new ideas in order to be culturally relevant, while maintaining uncompromising Biblical standards.

…a CARING Church. The people of this body try to shoulder each other's problems and cares as the Lord commanded His disciples to do.

…an IMPERFECT Church! Try as we might, we know that churches are made up of well-intentioned, but fallible, people who fall short of Christ's perfect and holy standards. Still, we strive to be more effective for His sake, not our own.

…a BIBLICALLY GOVERNED Church. In accordance with Scripture, Stone-Gate Bible Fellowship is administered by Biblically-qualified, congregationally-recognized Elders.

Purpose

The purpose of Stone-Gate Bible Fellowship is:

A. To GLORIFY GOD. This is the duty of the church and the precious privilege of every member of it. Principally, out of a love for Christ, glorifying God involves an individual's actions, attitudes, words, and how he/she manages those things (time, talent, resources) God has placed in his/her care (stewardship). This involves our individual lives as well as the life we experience together as a fellowship of believers. Our main corporate gathering is our weekly worship services designed to elicit our people's praise of God.

B. To GROW IN CHRIST LIKENESS. The second important purpose of Stone-Gate Bible Fellowship is to encourage spiritual growth in the lives of its people. The Bible never talks about Christians or the church in static terms; instead, they are to be continually growing in their love for Christ and learning more about Him. This growth is expressed through service to God, each other and to the world.  As a church, we fulfill this purpose through Biblical preaching, prayer, Christian education, Fellowship, Bible study groups and pastoral care activities.

C. To MAKE NEW DISCIPLES. Christ commanded us to make new disciples of people from around the world.  We believe it is our responsibility to live winsome lives in our community that we might be used of God to proclaim the greatness of God which will result in drawing others to Jesus. We recognize and embrace that God is building His kingdom all over the world and that it is our privilege to send and support those who serve to the same end.

At Stone Gate we strive to make the following core values a reality because we believe this is how our Lord has called us to honor/serve Him.

The first and most important core value is that it really is all about Jesus.
The second is that we believe that it is the parents' responsibility to disciple their children.
The third is that the Christian life happens within a community.

The first and most important core value is that it really is all about Jesus.  We try to express this in all aspects of ministry.  For example, the worship services are designed to be a time when He is honored and He is the central focus of the music and message.  We teach that the worship time is not just the singing, but also in the proclamation of the Word. It really is not a time to get our needs met, but to be a blessing to Christ in our attitudes and actions. We preach expositionally through entire books/letters of His Word with topical messages only given on specific holidays or when guest speakers come. We also stress that all of life is worship.  The goal and prayer then becomes a request that we would respond to the circumstances of life in such a way that He is blessed and honored rather than asking God to make life easy, fun and pain free.  The foundation of this is the first and foremost commandment - Love God with everything ... and the second ...love your neighbor as yourself.  We hope to be strongly evangelical because we have a Lord and Savior Who is more than worthy to be proclaimed.  We have as a focus that evangelism is about proclamation not salvation.  We proclaim in His Spirit and it is God Who saves. We have a God and Savior Who is worthy to be proclaimed. 

The second is that we believe that it is the parents' responsibility to disciple their children.  The church is to come along side the parents, never to replace them.  Thus we do not have youth groups or college groups or children's church or children's Sunday school.  Most all of the activities are by design intergenerational, this includes Sunday School as well.  In a systematic theology class we had ages ranges from 13 to 76.  Most all of our events are designed where families and/or individuals/singles can participate.  We want the attitude within the church/people of "how can I contribute to the entire body, not just to my own specific age or gender."  The church is not to be a collection of special interest groups.

(As a parenthetical addition - we do want our children to be active in their worshipping Christ in all of life. They are seen as important contributors, not nuisances or individuals who need to be pampered or catered to. One way this is lived out is to give the kids ... soon becoming young adults... ministry opportunities that they would not normally have.)

The third is that the Christian life happens within a community.  His Word is written in the context of community and Christians are in many places referenced as a group ... ie, Body, Bride, a people...  The Christian growth and the expressions of worship to our Lord are in many/most cases lived out in the context of community.  We try to schedule activities where we can fellowship and serve together. 

We are not promoting communal/cultish living. We respect and understand each individual's personal rights, responsibilities and space. We trust in God and His Holy Spirit to lead people/individuals in the decisions that they need to make (ie, we don't say or believe that anyone can say "I" know God's will for your life.) What we are hoping is that the Holy Spirit is creating a group of individuals who love Christ, and through and in that love, share meaningful relationships in the course of everyday life. The relationships at Stone Gate are far from perfect, but we are learning to forgive one another, overlook one another's imperfections and love one another. This does take time and for there to be time there needs to be commitment. Now that is scary and many people run the other direction when they hear commitment. We view commitment as voluntary and as given unto our Lord. It is hoped for and not demanded nor expected. With that said, commitment is important for I think those relationship that are the most meaningful to us are those that have been forged over a long time through a variety of different circumstance and varying times of closeness. This takes commitment.