Paul describes the church as a body with the people of God being the individual parts that make up the body, each person fulfilling their role for the proper functioning of the body.
Church partnership is the formalizing what has already been done to us. The church is the new covenant community that pursues God, one another, and mission in the context of a local expression of Jesus' church. Church partnership, then, is the covenantal commitment to God and to each other to live out our shared life in Jesus in the context of a local church.
Our Path to Partnership
1. Stick Six. It's hard the judge the life and rhythms of any church family from one Sunday morning. We invite you to spend six weeks with us and see if our mission and rhythms flow with your own.
2. Join a Missional Community. The core of how we operate is our Missional Communities. Discipleship happens in the small, daily moments of believers commited to one another and the Gospel of Jesus.
3. Attend a Foundations Class. This class introduces you to Redemption's story, foundational beliefs, and practices. Held multiple times a year, the Foundations Class is for those who have been a part of Redemption or are new.
4. Pastoral Interview: Getting to know your pastors and them getting to know you personally is vital to the health of any church family. This will be a time for you to hear your pastor's story as well as share your own. Here the pastor will talk about baptism, covenants, and find giftings that can be shared in the life of Redemption.
5. Sign the Covenant. Together we sign a covenant to one another, seek and grow in Jesus continually, and give our talents and resoures toward the mission of God.
6. Gather, Go, Give, Grow. As covenant partners together, we trust the Spirit to draw each other into a life where we continually gather together, go on mission, give of ourselves, and grow in a deeper relationship with each other and Jesus.