Vision Sunday

November 6, 2022

We are excited to release our new vision and mission statements along with our supporting values, ministry priorities, and discipleship process. This re-visioning was the culmination of 8 months of prayer, listening, teamwork, and commitment.

These statements will be guiding our ministry work for years to come, and we invite you to live them out with us. Check out the questions section below if you desire more clarity on specific terms and issues, and click here to read the official report that gives great detail into the re-visioning process, our current reality, and next steps.


If you missed the Vision Sunday message, we recommend that you take a few minutes to listen as Pastor Paul shared his heart and walked us through our new commitments.

Check out the video above for a quick recap of Vision Sunday.


We Envision

a loving community of disciple-makers serving and reaching generations with the Gospel in our city and around the world.

Our Mission

is to passionately pursue God, extend life-changing hope, and disciple people to be spirit-empowered followers of Jesus.

Our Core Values

Biblically
Grounded

Teaching, hearing, and obeying the living and inspired Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Wholistic
Worship

Offering our lives and voices in praise and glory to God.

Colossians 3:14-17

Expectant
Prayer

Boldly and unceasingly coming to the Father to advance His mission and Kingdom in the world.

1 John 5:14-15

Transformational
Discipleship

A community of believers of all generations pursuing fruitful and faithful lives that reflect Jesus.

Matthew 28:16-20

Intentional
Evangelism

Proclaiming the Gospel to everyone, everywhere.

Acts 1:8

Compassionate
Outreach

Extending Kingdom restoration, generosity, and love to our community and world.

Matthew 25:34-39

Our Ministry Priorities

towards God in
worship

towards each other in
discipleship

towards our world in
mission


Discipleship


A disciple is someone who knows how to listen to God, obeys him, and helps others do the same.


Characteristics of a disciple:

  • God Dependent
    growing in their knowledge and application of Prayer
  • Biblically Grounded
    familiar with the Bible and knowing how to read and apply the Bible devotionally
  • Relationally Healthy
    knowing how to fight against sin, how to say “no” to temptation, and how the Spirit produces the “fruit of the Spirit” in a Christian’s life
  • Equipped for Ministry
    understanding God’s design for Spiritual Gifts in a church and using their gifts
  • Personally Generous
    knowing God’s design for the stewardship of their God given time, talents, and treasures
  • Missionally Engaged
    knowing that God is working in the world and having discovered how he has called them to play a part in his local and global mission to reach people

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did we develop a new Vision and Mission statement?

About a year ago, our Leadership Board noted that FAC was a very different church than we were in 2019 when our previous mission and vision statements were adopted. Having weathered the last few years by God’s grace and presence, we have seen growth in many areas. That caused the board to ask hard questions about why God was blessing us and how He wanted us to specifically trust Him in the coming days. The end result was the development of the new vision and mission statements which are more specific than the former statements. The church is not headed in a new direction; we are headed in the same direction but with more clarity for greater ministry impact.

What was the process?

As the Leadership Board wrestled with some of these questions about growth, direction and impact in late 2021, they felt bringing in an outside consultant to walk us through an examination and discernment process would be wise and helpful. StratCom, and their consultant Rick Stoller, came highly recommended from other large Alliance churches, and they have also worked with organizations like World Vision, MOPS and Compassion International. Beginning in early 2022, Rick hosted a number of 1:1 interviews, led focus groups, guided our congregational survey in February that 783 FAC attendees participated in, and walked alongside the Leadership Board, staff, and strategic task force through the 8 month process of meetings, wrestlings, decisions, revisions, prayer, and commitment. In October, the Leadership Board fully adopted the final product of our work with unity and great anticipation of all God has done and will do!

What does this mean?

As of November 6, we have new vision and mission statements. We also have adopted 6 values we wish to embody, and clarified our ministry priorities. Perhaps most importantly, we have a very clear definition of what a disciple of Jesus is, the character they possess and a process in which to participate in for growth. (Please see page 16 of the extended report for more information on this OR graphic/definitions above). Going forward, we are placing a premium not only on reaching the lost, but making disciples. We want breadth and depth about all we do and who we are, and a dependence on Jesus and the Holy Spirit for all of it.

In addition to the new statements, we have also adopted faith projections for our ministries. These are metrics that the staff and board will be measuring against for the next 5 years as we live these new statements out. This does NOT mean that we are all about numbers or numerical growth. Not at all! It means that we are going to be looking for spiritual growth in more tangible and measurable ways. Every department and ministry has goals and projections to help guide their future ministry endeavors and investments.

What will change? What won’t change?

We know of a few things that will be changing:

  • We will have a greater call to discipleship of everyone who calls FAC their home church.
  • We believe the church will continue to grow in size based on prayerful projections.
  • We will need to address our space concerns as we live out greater discipleship and numerical growth.

What won’t change:

  • A commitment to prayer and the Scriptures
  • A commitment to the Christian & Missionary Alliance and their work in the world
  • Our intentional strategic movements UP towards God in worship, IN towards each other in discipleship and OUT towards our world in mission.
  • Our desire to reach our neighbors, the nations, and the next generation.
  • Our focus on being an intergenerational church
  • A commitment to doing the right thing the right way

What are our next steps?

There are three clear next steps:

  1. In January, Pastor Paul is calling us to 40 days of prayer. This will also include fasting for those who wish to do so. While we have our new vision, mission, values, priorities, and projections for growth, we want to be in a posture of humility in listening to the Holy Spirit and saying yes to all God asks of us.
  2. We are calling everyone who calls FAC their home church to engage in our discipleship process. This means that we will ask everyone to be committed to a worship service, part of a growing group or relationship, and serve inside and/or outside the church. We are also calling our staff to implement the faith projection goals and plans that they developed that will provide and enhance these opportunities in coming days. We want to be a church of committed disciples fully following Jesus!
  3. As noted on pages 11-13 of the report, we believe that God will continue to grow us numerically as a church. We need to be prepared for that growth as well as provide adequate space for our current and future ministries. Therefore, a task force will be formed to consider our options for continued ministry here at Old Higbee Mill and/or somewhere else. Our history as First Alliance has been one of several locations and names around the Lexington area. So this will not be the first time we have considered renovations, expansion or relocation. God has always faithfully guided, and He will do the same for us now. At this time, we do not feel that the Lord is leading towards traditional church planting as a growth management strategy.

How can I pray?

  • Pray for continued unity and stamina of the Leadership of FAC.
  • Pray that we would all be filled with wisdom and discernment as we continue to seek the Lord together.
  • Pray for soft and courageous hearts to obey what God asks of us.
  • Pray for protection from the attack of the enemy and any areas of pride or division.
  • Pray that God will continue to guide our pastoral search for our Executive Pastor of Ministry Development (Pastor of IN) as that position remains critical to mission fulfillment at FAC.

Thank you’s are in order!

We want to thank our Leadership Board, Staff, and Strategic Task Force for the cumulative hundreds of hours they spent in this process. This was in addition to all of their regular responsibilities, and was a serious investment of time and energy. We thank all of those who were part of our survey, interviews, prayer nights, and initial focus groups. This was a group effort in listening to God and seeking His future for us. We also extend our thanks to Rick Stoller for all he did to guide us through this exceptionally thorough process.

Where do I go with further questions?

It is understandable that you may have some questions after reading through this page and the attached report. While we fully admit that we don’t have complete clarity on tangible next steps for FAC, we will answer with transparency questions that we can answer. There will be a session on Sunday night, November 13 at 5pm in the Lower Auditorium for anyone with questions about the report. In addition, if you have a specific question, you can direct it towards Lead Pastor Paul Smith, Executive Pastor of Strategy and Operations Deb MacKay, or our Leadership Board Chairman, Damon Mazza.