A Vision of Ministry, Mission and Fellowship
Blacksburg Baptist Church
“Our Commitment: To Love God, to Nurture
God’s People, And to Equip Our Members
to Share God’s Love”
Affirmed by the Deacons upon Recommendation of
The Pastor and Church Staff
October 2005
Being in the early stages of a new millennium and being a fellowship of faith and vision, we pray for the wisdom to discern God’s desire for our church. Our conviction is that God has revealed and will continue revealing His desire for this church through the lessons of history, the teachings of scripture, and our experiences in daily life.
In keeping with this conviction, our vision is:
• To be a Christ centered congregation who takes literally and seriously both the Great Commandments and the Great Commission of Jesus Christ:
1. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength … and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)
2. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 27:19-20)
• To be a church known for its singleness of purpose: to love Christ and to love Christ’s people above all else. (Philippians 2:1-5)
• To be a healing church where the hurting, the depressed, the disillusioned, the frustrated and the confused can find love, peace, hope, help, forgiveness, guidance, encouragement, and purpose in life.
• To be a church that seeks ways and embodies the means of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the residents of Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Virginia Tech, and the New River Valley.
• To be a church known for its variety, quality, and spiritual depth of worship.
• To be an inviting church known for its warmth and friendliness.
• To be a church where the hallmarks of fellowship are love, kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, personal affirmation, challenge and spiritual maturity.
• To be a church that develops spiritual maturity and biblical literacy through Bible studies, small groups, seminars, retreats, and personal devotions. We envision being a church committed to producing Christians of all ages who are capable of modeling the marks of discipleship through body, mind, and spirit. (Galatians 5: 22-23 … “The Fruit of the Spirit,” and Philippians 1:9-11 …”The Fruit of Righteousness.”)
• To be a church that equips believers for ministry and that helps them discover their God-given gifts and talents.
• To be a church that empowers every member for a personal life mission in the world.
• To be a church that sends out Christians on mission locally, regionally, nationally and globally.
• To be a church that produces and supports career missionaries who serve God across the planet.
• To be a church that embraces change and challenge as gifts from God.
• To be a church that places the meeting of spiritual and personal need above our desire for comfort and stability. The goal of this vision is to birth the following:
1. A church equipped for and committed to reaching as many people as possible, in as many places as possible, through as many means as possible in an effort to show them the wonder of abundant life in Jesus Christ. (John 10:10)
2. A church that dreams so boldly, those dreams cannot be accomplished unless God is in them.
3. A church with the ministries, facilities, and mission opportunities that are capable of producing the following within ten years or less:
a. Programming and outreach capable of producing at least 2000 permanent and student associate members.
b. Intentional, relational style disciple-making ministries capable of producing at least 200 new believers.
c. 40% of those attending church each week be previously unchurched.
d. An average worship attendance through all services of at least 1000 people per week from the fall through the spring seasons.
e. A continued emphasis that seeks to develop an every growing sensitivity to God’s call to ministry, both vocational ministry and the ministry of the laity.
f. A weekly education attendance in all programs of at least 500 or more.
g. The development of both new members and new believers classes.
h. A variety of healing ministries (seminars, classes, etc, such as Celebrate Recovery, A Hunger for Healing, DivorceCare) that seeks to address the needs of body, mind and spirit.
i. Fifty percent (50%) of those attending weekly worship will be using their spiritual gifts in ministry, be involved in a small group, and have completed some form of discipleship training.
j. A missions program that undertakes at least 30 external mission endeavors per year beyond our ongoing mission offered through weekly worship, educational ministries and small group programming.
k. The planting of at least one new church in the New River Valley and/or the creation of satellite style options for worship and outreach.
l. A heightened involvement in the missions and ministries of the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), as well as with other ministry groups such as the Interfaith Food Pantry, Habitat for Humanity, the Downtown Ecumenical Fellowship of Churches, The Willow Creek Association, etc.