What We Believe

So what kind of church are you?  What do you believe?  Who are you affiliated with?

Interesting questions.

The easy answer would be to say “It’s hard to explain so come check us out.”  That’s not really a fair answer though.  Our theology is built around a belief that God revealed Himself through Jesus, made a way for our personal salvation through Christ’s death and resurrection, and wants us to follow Jesus in every facet of our lives empowered by the Spirit, God’s voice and presence which is active in the lives of every follower of Jesus.

Now, what does that look and sound like?  What’s our method?

There are 6 main values that shape what it means to be part of Catalyst.

We value formation.  We believe that God wants us to know Him in clear and tangible ways.  God sent Jesus, and then gave the Holy Spirit, so that humanity can understand the desires of God and be in relationship with Him.

We value transformation.  We believe that knowledge about and connection with God should lead to a life that is changed from our broken nature.  The life of a follower of Jesus (family, work, leisure, etc.) should increasingly look different than the life we lived before following Jesus.

We value life together.  We believe that life was meant to be lived best in close relationship with others.  Not everyone.  But a small group of “someones” who know us at the deepest levels and push us to be more like Jesus.  Catalyst Life Together Groups are the heart of Catalyst Church, and we encourage everyone who calls Catalyst their church to be part of one regularly.

We value generosity.  We believe that while generous is not the only word that describes God’s love for us, we certainly acknowledge humanity’s undeserved grace that God gave freely of Himself.  We want to be channels of generosity in every way, a church that gives away resources, service, and shares our talents and dollars with those in need  just because it’s what Jesus would do.

We value relevance.  God is not an ancient arcane idea.  God is active in the world today.  God’s self-revelation to the world, the Bible, speaks just as clearly into 21st century life as to 1st century life.  We believe that we should use whatever methods necessary to clearly layout the unchanging message of God toward humanity.  Our worship experiences utilize modern worship music (with volume a little louder than you might be used to in church) video that frames questions that our culture is asking about God, the Bible and how to live.  Our teaching will always be Bible based and will relate to 21st century life in our community. We believe in  teaching that’s theologically sound and applicable to your life today. Our hope is that you’ll walk away feeling refreshed, encouraged and challenged.

We value reproduction.  We’re instructed by Jesus to make more and better disciples.  We’re committed to not just make “insiders” happy.  Rather, we’re committed to do making our highest priority helping people who are still seeking to connect with God personally.  And we’re committed to helping partner with new churches in fulfilling this focus.  Our desire is to always be focused on growth.  Healthy organisms grow and multiply.  Should be healthy organisms that grow and multiply as well.  So we’ll seek to grow and also commit resources toward multiplication.

Lots of info here that may have left you with more questions than answers.  Our Explore Catalyst gatherings might be a great place to go deeper with the conversation and get your questions answered.  Explore gatherings are typically held the first Sunday of each month following weekend worship services, and periodically on Sunday evenings at Pastor Chris and Carlotta Denney’s home.  To sign up for an Explore event, contact Catalyst’s office staff or indicate on a Connection Card during a weekend service.