We mobilize every church member to participate in the Great Commission, because the church is the means, the method, and the end of missions. We identify, develop, send, and support missionaries whose task is to establish and strengthen local churches across the world.

The local church is a body of baptized believers who regularly gather to hear God’s Word preached, observe the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and help one another live godly lives. As churches mature, they should aim to appoint elders, commit to one another through membership, and protect the purity of the church through discipline.

Our aim in missions is to establish and strengthen churches that pursue multiplication and maturity. We aim to multiply churches that are self-sustaining, self-governing, and self-propagating, and see these churches mature with meaningful membership, leadership development, and a plurality of elders. Missionaries should labor toward a faithful exit when a local church, led by national believers, can continue the work independently. This process requires time, patience, and a long-term commitment to evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development.

We want to establish and strengthen churches in our city and cities around the world. We believe that ministry in Birmingham is just as important as missions around the world. Before Christ ascended He told His followers that they would be His witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Birmingham is our Jerusalem. As Christ has commanded us to “love our neighbors as ourselves” (Mark 12:31) we recognize that this starts with proclaiming the gospel and seeking the flourishing of those within our sanctuary and those of our surrounding community.

Our members are encouraged to experience the dynamic joy of mutually transformational relationships by serving alongside our local mission partners. These various ministries are seeking to make Jesus known in word and deed by caring for their under-resourced neighbors and communities. Our members can volunteer and immerse themselves in these ministries in an ongoing fashion. From these partnerships, we hope that our neighbors will witness our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16), and that our members will “take hold of that which is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19).

We seek deep, long-term relationships between our missionaries and our church, prioritizing opportunities that will lead to lasting access to the gospel. We want our church to know our missionaries and invest in efforts that allow our congregation to build relationships with our missionaries.

We partner with missionaries and organizations who make local churches the center and face of ministry in their communities. We invest in macro-partnerships with trusted ministries like Reaching & Teaching and The Upstream Collective that help us cooperate with other churches to send missionaries and support the global church.

We prioritize sending missionaries and supporting efforts to the unreached so that every nation, tribe, and tongue hears the gospel and has healthy, contextualized churches in their community. Even our work among the reached parts of the world like Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa strengthens and mobilizes Majority World churches for the missionary task. 

Our desire is to see a persistent gospel witness among the unreached. For this reason, we are committed to methods that prioritize establishing or strengthening healthy churches that are contextualized and biblically faithful. We aim to communicate the unchanging gospel message in culturally relevant ways. 

Our approach to contextualization upholds sound biblical doctrine, rejects religious syncretism, preserves essential truths, and seeks cultural understanding without theological compromise. We desire to see local churches established and strengthened that reflect their cultural contexts and are faithful to the Scriptures.

We take the gospel to the nations in both word and deed, believing that proclaiming Christ and demonstrating his love through action are inseparable parts of faithful mission. We partner with trusted ministries like Not Forgotten to meet urgent physical and spiritual needs in communities around the world.

We are committed to prioritizing opportunities that center on evangelism and discipleship, because we believe the church grows and matures as the Word of God is faithfully taught and lived out. At the same time, we recognize that in many places around the world, people face life-threatening needs—poverty, hunger, sickness, and injustice—that cannot be ignored. We want to support efforts that provide practical care and relief, not as an end in themselves, but as a means of loving our neighbor and opening doors for gospel witness.

We value enduring, lasting ministry over quick results and rapid multiplication. While we rejoice in seasons of rapid growth, we believe that faithfulness over time produces deeper roots and greater fruit. Our goal is not merely to see initial conversions or short-term activity, but to contribute to the long-term health and strength of the global church.

We aim to align short-term work with long-term partnerships. We view short-term efforts not as isolated projects, but as opportunities to support, encourage, and serve those who are laboring faithfully on the ground. We prioritize sending teams and individuals who can reinforce ongoing gospel work and build relational continuity with those we support.

Ultimately, we invest in work that we hope will outlast our church. We labor with eternity in view, trusting that God will raise up healthy, reproducing churches long after our direct involvement ends. Our prayer is to see churches planted and strengthened that will endure for generations, rooted in the gospel and pastored by godly, national believers who will carry the mission forward.