Our Vision/BELIEFS
We exist to see all creation renewed under Christ the King.
The follow up question to a statement like the one above is, “How?” How do you go about seeing all creation renewed under Christ the King? Our mission is what anchors this extraordinary vision into our ordinary life. We aim to play our small part in this work by laboring in worship, shaping disciples, serving Yakima, and multiplying the Church.
Laboring in Worship
The heartbeat of the church is its worship. It is in our regular gatherings that we exalt out king, confessing sins to our king, praise our king, speak to our king, and get fed in word and sacrament by our king. The beginning of renewal starts on Sunday, which marks the day Jesus rose from the dead and began to bring about his new kingdom. Creation renewal flows out of this day and is the most important thing we do as a community.
Forming Disciples
The word ‘disciple’ simply means follower. Paul summarized the end goal of Christian discipleship as being formed into the image of Christ. This forming doesn’t happen on our own, but through life in community as we are all following Christ, and pointing each other to Christ together. We don’t grow in isolation. We grow in community. Through discipleship, we strive alongside one another, to grow in our love for God and each other. Discipleship happens as we foster intentional community with one another in our homes, and various small groups.
Serving Yakima.
The Church exists for the life of the world. Jesus tells us that he didn’t come to be served, but to serve. Jesus has called us to follow him in service towards others. The first question we ask then is, “How can we serve?” We exist for the life of Yakima, and when it flourishes we flourish. So, we encourage one another to serve the city in our various spheres of work, interests, and influence. The same is true for you whether you are a plumber, a teacher, a stay-at-home mom, or an artist.
Multiplying the Church
Healthy organisms replicate themselves. We aim to make this happen both throughout Central Washington, as well as around the world. Once our church is established we will work to help more PCA churches get planted throughout Central Washington. As we are doing the work of church planting here, we will also partner with others to join God’s mission of growing His church around the world.
We are members of the Northwest Church Planting Network and support global church planting through financial contributions, church planting internships, coaching, and prayer.
OUR BELIEFS
Our church adheres to the historic, orthodox Christian faith as articulated in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and our doctrinal standards are the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger (part 1, part 2) and Shorter Catechisms.
Saint Andrew's is a mission church of the Presbyterian Church in America, a denomination devoted to the inerrancy of the Scriptures, the Reformed theological tradition, and the fulfillment of the Great Commission (especially through church planting). This is a denomination that we are immensely thankful to be a part of as a young church, and a denomination that has thriving future ahead of it.
Why Saint Andrew’s?
In the gospel of John, Andrew is the first disciple to tell someone about Jesus. He has just met Jesus, and is in utter amazement that he has found the long-awaited Messiah that is going to take away the sins of the world. In his excitement, Andrew runs to his brother, Simon, to tell him. Andrew then, takes his brother to meet Jesus. Jesus looks at Simon and says, “You are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). In this one encounter with Christ, Simon’s life is changed… his name is changed! He becomes a new man, and goes on to lead the early church.
Our mission is to introduce people to Christ, just like Andrew did, because we know that the only hope we have of transformation is found in Christ alone. For this reason our church is called "Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church" and we hope that this helps keep us on mission as a church.