When Integrity officially launched in 2009, Ben drafted a mission statement and core values which helped define the church and its mission, and while it has been helpful since then, the staff decided to update the mission statement and core values to make it more memorable.

We will be doing a series of blog posts explaining what our mission statement is and how that plays out in the church and life groups, and a series of blog posts walking through our core values and why we hold them so highly.

The mission of Integrity Church is to glorify God by equipping the saints to make disciples of all nations.

Everything we do as a church is to the glory of God.  From the words that are preached, down to the sound system that is set up and torn down, everything is done so that God’s glory would be displayed for all to see.  This is the reason that the glory of God is at the beginning of our mission statement, because everything we do is for His glory, and if something doesn’t glorify Him, we should expend our energies in other places.

The first way we glorify God is by equipping the saints (Ephesians 4:12).  The reasoning behind it is this; a church staff is limited, even in a large church, but especially in a smaller church.  The typical church has a small staff, the pastors and staff equip and help the saints do the work of the ministry.  If many people in the church are equipped and trained to do ministry, the church can multiply its efforts exponentially.  Despite this logic, why wouldn’t every believer want to  do the work of the ministry (i.e. sharing the gospel with neighbors, teaching other believers God’s Word) if it’s to God’s glory?

The second way we glorify God is by committing to make disciples.  Not only is this the Great Commandment given by Christ just prior to His ascension (Matthew 28), but it is the by product of equipping the saints.  When we equip the saints, we will be making disciples.  If the church does its job at equipping the saints, people will have the desire to make disciples.

When believers understand that the mission of all believers is to make disciples, they will fulfill that mission as well, here and abroad.  Some will naturally want to live and move around the world, and as we equip them to understand that God’s mission is for everyone, they will take that mission with them and make disciples of all the nations, regardless of where they travel and live.

This is the mission of Integrity Church, and in future blog posts, we will explain more how we equip the saints through the things we value the most, our Core Values.