STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
For Christ Church Ventura

Empowered by the Gospel, we aim to experience God's pleasure by fostering true knowledge, holy affection, and faithful obedience through historic worship, biblical learning, genuine community, and cultural outreach to the end that God's people are gathered and Christ's Kingdom is extended throughout the cities of Ojai, Ventura and beyond —

The Church is God's worshiping assembly which exists to glorify God and to enjoy Him as a vehicle through which He gathers His people to Himself from every nation, people, tribe, and tongue throughout the earth in order that they might know, love, delight in, and serve Him in this life and forever. We recognize that we are but one particular expression of the Church as she exists worldwide in every generation. As God supplies the means we will endeavor to be faithful stewards of all that He gives to us. Our purpose, simply stated is: Exalting Christ through Worship, Learning, Community, and Outreach.

Worship: We believe that the well-spring of our lives is knowing and delighting in God. The highest activity in which a human being can be engaged is the activity of worship, whether individual or corporate. It is our conviction that there is a need for historic liturgical worship which does not place unnecessary obstacles in the way of those seeking to encounter and worship God. We desire to recover both the centrality of the Word of God preached and the beauty of historic worship.

Learning: The triune God who is the creator of heaven and earth and the redeemer of His people will not be loved, delighted in and served if He is not known. We believe that all things come from and lead to this holy, triune God. We place high priority on knowing about God and His ways believing that in this way, through Jesus Christ we come to know Him. We endeavor to teach the whole counsel of God to people of all ages.

Community: Like the Israelites in Egypt, we are a people set apart without a homeland. In a culture which is increasingly fragmented and characterized by isolation we recognize the need to be creative and aggressive in building our people into a community. It is our aim to accomplish this by means of pastoral care, mercy ministries, home studies, prayer groups, and corporate gatherings of the body. We believe that God has established three institutions for the ordering of society: the family, the Church, and the civil government. In and through the Church we aim to do all we can to ensure that godly families are established and equipped with the intention that this will develop a culturally engaging and desirable Church family.

Outreach: Christ has commissioned His Church in every generation to make disciples from all of the nations, baptizing them and teaching them all that He has communicated to His people in His Word. We aim to be diligent in our neighborhoods, places of work, schools and through our missionaries and church planters in order that the gospel of Christ does fill the earth. We aim, as well, to be aware of the needy in our so that the gospel does permeate every stratum of society doing its work in hearts and thereby changing lives.