Church Leadership
Marvin Parker
Reverend and Sr. Pastor/Teacher
Gary Warren
Pastor
Steven Meritt
Pastor
Mark Clarke
Reverend
Be•lief /b??l?f/ noun
1. An acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.
2. Trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something
AT FBCS WE HAVE 6 CORE BELIEFS
The Bible is God’s direct revelation to us and is the ultimate authority in matters of doctrine, conduct, and ministry. Everything we teach and do will be based on the Scriptures.
The gospel is the good news that God has accomplished our salvation for us through Jesus Christ to destroy all the effects of sin-punishment. The gospel changes everything, providing answers for our deepest questions and solutions for our hardest issues. Therefore deeply repenting and believing it is the greatest need of the Christian and non-Christian alike. The core of the gospel is the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross, his burial and resurrection as the all sufficient savior and Lord!
We want to see God’s invisible kingdom made visible on Earth. In other words, we want to see God’s will come down to impact the residents and institutional entities of Swedesboro, Logan, Woolwich and throughout Gloucester County. When we focus on His Kingdom and not our own, we pray that the desire to know the Lord Jesus Christ would grow in the hearts of people, and that we as Christians would not measure our growth quantitatively by our church; but through advancing the mission of the Kingdom of God.
The body of Christ (church) is deeply rooted in whom God is; a missional God, a sending God. At our very core we are a sent people, called to carry out God’s mission. The Commission in John 20:21 is simple yet profound. Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” In the same manner that God the Father sent his one and only Son to live among the world, we too are sent to do the same. We are sent to our neighborhoods, communities, and world to reflect the love and mission of Jesus Christ. We are to embody the Gospel by how we live as Christians, pointing others to Christ.
Discipleship, evangelism, mercy, deep fellowship, spiritual maturity occur best in the context of deep, safe, committed relationships. We will be intentional in providing contexts for such relationships through small groups, missional engagement, worship, prayer, relational encouragement, and volunteering.
One of the measures of maturity and health is reproduction. We view the church not as a gathering place, but as a people sent by God to do the work of His mission. So many churches are content with simply adding members to the church, but we will strive to multiply reproducing disciples
The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ never changes, but how we communicate it to the world around us needs to continually change or the church will continue to become irrelevant in the eyes of our culture. In Matthew 22 Jesus said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” As the church, we need to deeply love all people, truly listen to others, and embody Christ as Gospel people.
