Kathwood Baptist Church’s Vision

Kathwood Baptist Church seeks to be a family of believers in God through Jesus Christ, free to exercise God’s gifts and call, as led by the Holy Spirit, in a shared life of Christian love.  We seek to be who Christ would have us be, go where Christ would have us go, do what Christ would have us do, and love as Christ would have us love.

Kathwood Baptist Church’s Mission

Kathwood Baptist Church exists to know God and to make God’s love known through lives transformed by Christ.

We accomplish our mission through:

• Exalting God (worship)

• Forming Believers  (discipleship)

• Nurturing Community (fellowship)

• Serving Humanity (ministry)

• Sharing the Good news about Jesus Christ (missions/evangelism)

Distinctive Kathwood Beliefs

• Salvation by Grace

• Religious liberty through the separation of church and state

• Autonomy of the local church

• The spirit of inclusion versus exclusion

• The Priesthood of the believer

• Freedom to interpret the Bible as led by the Spirit without intrusion of a creed

• The value of women in ministry

Value Statements for Kathwood Baptist Church

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like unto it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’”.  Matthew 22:37-39

At Kathwood Baptist Church, we believe that the overarching purpose of the Christian life is to worship and enjoy God, and that everything we do should be for God's glory.  We believe that worship, service, and discipleship are our primary means to praise God and to show the world around us the freedom and beauty of our life in Christ.  Above all, we believe that we are called as a church to love the God who first loved us, and to bear the fruits of that love. 

With Jesus’ commandment as our Core Value, we believe in, or aspire to develop, the following values:

Worship

• Corporate Worship:

At Kathwood we value worship experiences that glorify God and inspire worshippers to follow Christ.

• Bible Teaching and Preaching:

At Kathwood we believe that God’s Word is a great gift to be treasured and inhabited.  We believe that we best do so through the sustained and energetic reading, hearing and studying of God’s Word.   For that reason, we value a comprehensive educational program for all members, centered on the Word of God that fits them for God's service.

• Grace:

We believe that God’s grace, God's unmerited favor, is the source of our salvation.  Because of God’s grace toward us, we have the model that guides our relationship with one another.

• Prayer:

We believe that prayer is both a gift and a discipline from God, who expects us to pray continually.  Jesus is our model and pattern in prayer and we believe that God hears and answers our prayers.  We, therefore, rely upon prayer personally and corporately in the conception, planning and execution of all our ministries and activities.

Discipleship

• Discipleship:

We believe we must enable Christians to grow in their relationships with Christ and to become fully equipped for service to others.  We believe that a comprehensive program of Christian education that addresses the needs of the total person will deepen our faithfulness to Jesus’ example.

• Leadership and Laity:

We believe that every member should be a minister, uniquely gifted, with a special place in our church’s missions.  We therefore believe that we should strive to identify and nurture the gifts of every member for effective ministry through those gifts.

We believe that a professional ministerial staff has a unique biblical charge to preach, to inspire, to equip, to evangelize, and when necessary, to reprove and rebuke.  We need to be challenged to step out in faith.

• Stewardship/finance:

We believe in gratefully giving back to God a portion of that which has come to us from Him, including our time, talents, money and possessions.  We value the wise stewardship of all these resources.          

Service

• Missions, Service and Outreach:

We embrace the Lord’s commandments to witness, to love our neighbor  and to do good works.  We strive to follow Christ’s example in meeting the needs of others as a part of the process of outreach and discipling.   In this way, we will meet the holistic needs of families, minister to the lonely and wounded, extend care to the destitute and tell our story effectively in the community.

• Family:  

Kathwood supports, encourages, and equips families to glorify God in their family relationships. We want to help them rear children who love Jesus and seek to follow him in a faith of their own.  This emphasis calls for focused attention on programs for children and youth.  In addition, we realize that as a church we must also be the extended family for the elderly, the homebound and those who have no other family.