Church Administrator/Executive Pastor

About Southside Baptist Church

OUR DESTINATION:
(The Mission)

We will make disciples of Jesus and equip those who do.

Making disciples
The mission of the church is constant and universal. It was given to us by Jesus Himself. He told His disciples to “go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Equipping those who do
We stand on the shoulders of faithful disciples who have obeyed Jesus’ command to make disciples. As Paul instructed Timothy to entrust what he heard “to faithful individuals who will be able to teach others also,” we are called to engage, equip, and empower people who will in turn invest the Gospel in others (2 Timothy 2:2).

OUR DIRECTION:
(The Vision)

We will be known as a church that is for Christ, for the city, for good:
As we answer God’s call to reach the city of Jacksonville with the message of the Gospel, we recognize that He is bringing an influx of people into the shadow of our steeple. We know and celebrate this diversity, understanding that many of our new neighbors have little or no knowledge of the Gospel. Furthermore, we see the rapid decline, departure, and death of neighboring churches. This means that at the very moment our community is experiencing its most significant population growth, there are fewer healthy churches to reach and minister to the growing population.

Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we want to understand the times in which we are living and faithfully obey God’s call (1 Chronicles 12:32). To that end, we, the people of Southside Baptist Church, have made the following three commitments:

We are “for Christ.”
Jesus is the hope of our city and of all humanity. Our goal is to know Him and to make Him known. Our lives, families, ministries, programs, and projects will center around the person, message, life, and gospel of Jesus Christ. We will take seriously His command to love everyone, always. We will strive to fulfill His great commission to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:18-20).

We are “for the city.”
We embrace the growth and changes that are coming to our city and surrounding community. We will continue to cooperate and collaborate with ministry partners, other churches, neighboring businesses, schools, city government, local representatives, and others to pray and work for the welfare of our city, because we believe that when it prospers, we will prosper. We are called to be salt and light and will serve as Christ’s ambassadors to the people of Jacksonville (Jeremiah 29:7; Matthew 5:13-16; 2 Corinthians 5:20).

We are here “for good.”
This not only means that we want to do good, but that we are here for good … meaning we aren’t going anywhere! God planted the seeds of this congregation in the heart of Jacksonville and San Marco over 100 years ago. Since then, He has continued to use Southside to minister and bless the people of our city. We do not believe that call has changed. While we bless and pray for the congregations moving out of Jacksonville’s urban core, we believe we have been called to stand in the gap on behalf of the people of Jacksonville. We believe that it is here, in the heart of the city, that we have the greatest opportunity to influence the arts, education, media, government, and culture with the message of the Gospel. We believe that by reaching and influencing the core of the city, we can influence the region, the nation, and the world (1 Thessalonians 5:15; Acts 1:8).

OUR VEHICLE:
(The Strategy)

Gather • Grow • Go
We make disciples and equip those who do by creating irresistible ministry environments on church campuses, online, and in homes that inspire individuals and families to:

Gather together to worship God the Father,
Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and
Go in the power of the Holy Spirit to carry the Gospel to our city and the ends of the earth.

OUR GUARDRAILS:
(Our Values)

We are biblically grounded and Gospel-centered:
We value the Bible as God’s authoritative Word. We study it together and seek to build our lives on its truth. We believe that salvation is the gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ and that this message is the beginning, centerpiece, and culmination of everything we do. Being biblically grounded is a guardrail against cultural and moral relativism while remaining Gospel-centered prevents us from being legalistic and judgmental. Biblically grounded and Gospel-centered ministry means that we seek to engage the culture with the truth of God’s word by demonstrating and proclaiming the grace and love of Jesus (Matthew 7:24-27; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Therefore …

• The Bible is our standard and final authority on all issues of life, faith, and practice.
• Programs and events are evaluated based on their faithfulness to biblical principles and their effectiveness in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Our preaching, teaching, and small group materials are based on biblical texts and point to the person, teaching, and ministry of Jesus Christ.

We believe a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will build a great church:
The Great Commandment is to love God and love others. The Great Commission is to go into all the world making disciples of all people. The Great Commandment demands we demonstrate the love of Christ, while the Great Commission reminds us of the universal need for salvation found only through faith in Jesus Christ. The Great Commandment is a guardrail protecting us from callously pursuing religious converts, while the Great Commission protects us from merely practicing social justice without a call to personal salvation (Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:18-20 & Acts 1:8). Therefore...

• We believe the church exists primarily for the benefit of its non-members.
  We will value the needs of those who are far from God above our own preferences, security, and comfort. Some approach church membership the same way they approach membership in a country club: “I pay my dues, and reap the benefits of my membership.” While members at Southside give generously of their time, talent, and treasure, it is not to claim the benefits of membership, but for the glory of God and the expansion of His Kingdom. We love because He first loved us. We give because He first gave to us. We serve because He has laid down His life in service to us. Our membership and involvement at church is to make Him known to those who have yet to hear the message of the Gospel.
• We believe membership has its responsibilities.
  By meeting the needs of others, we demonstrate our faith that God will meet our needs. Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). He also said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25). This is the reciprocal nature of the Gospel. When we give ourselves away in service to others, the deepest needs of our own hearts are met in return.
• We will measure our success by our sending capacity rather than our seating capacity.
  While it feels great to have a full church and thousands of views on social media, the potency of our congregation comes from those who leave our buildings or log off of our website more engaged, better equipped, and fully empowered to live out God’s Kingdom purposes.
• We believe that the light that shines the farthest shines the brightest at home.
  We embrace both local and international missions, leveraging each for the benefit of the other. We will not create a false alternative between what we do across the street and what we are called to do around the world. We believe the need for the Gospel is universal. This demands that we be people of integrity, consistent in our witness in all places, in all ways, at all times.

We believe the character of our praying determines the character of our ministry:
A healthy and necessary tension exists between an active and contemplative faith. We see a picture of this in Luke 10 where Martha, who is actively serving Jesus and His disciples, complains about her sister Mary, who is passively sitting at His feet. Tom Wright says, “Without the first you wouldn’t eat and without the second you wouldn’t pray.” We believe our ability to actively live on mission with Jesus depends on our willingness to sit at His feet. As the disciples were first told to wait on the Holy Spirit to be empowered to accomplish the Great Commission, so the church today is called to actively wait on God as we continue that work in our generation (Luke 10:38-42; Acts 1:4-8; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Matthew 6:5-15). Therefore …

• Prayer will not be an afterthought, transition device, or a formality when we gather, but will be a central focus of our time together.
• We will meet at 7:00 p.m., on the first Tuesday of every month for the sole purpose of prayer.

We believe in Kingdom expansion through small group multiplication:
If you put a male and female elephant together and wait for three years you might have three elephants.  But put a male and female rabbit together and wait three years and you will definitely have thousands of rabbits! Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like working yeast into dough or like planting a mustard seed. Small groups not only expand the Kingdom, they also foster deeper personal spiritual growth. Life change happens most effectively in small groups because they allow for one-on-one discipleship as well as greater authenticity and accountability (Luke 6:12-13; Acts 2:44-47). Therefore …

• We believe that circles are better than rows.
  While gathering for corporate worship in a room full of believers is an important, beautiful, and exciting thing, it is not always the best environment for making disciples. Jesus taught the masses, but He also chose 12 individuals in whom He invested most of His time and teaching. We will make efforts to move people out of the rows in the sanctuary into the circles of small groups.
• We will be a church “of” rather than a church “with” small groups.
  Small groups are not just another program of the church, they are the essence of who we are and are our primary strategy for ministry. If our congregation was suddenly no longer able to meet under one roof, we want there to be hundreds of house churches throughout our city reflecting our beliefs and carrying out our mission.
• We will be spiritual tour guides rather than religious travel agents.
  Travel agents tell you where to go, but do not join you on the journey. Tour guides lead the way, pointing out the beautiful sites and dangers along the path. People need spiritual tour guides if they are going to follow Jesus down the narrow road of faith.
• We will invest our resources in engaging, equipping, and empowering leaders.
  We know that effective leadership is the key to healthy, holistic small groups and churches. We will invest our best resources in engaging gifted, qualified leaders, equipping them with the tools they need to be effective, and empowering them to perform ministry in and through small groups and ministry opportunities.

We are diverse but united:
We believe the church should operate as a diverse but unified community of believers. We want to be an example of how the Gospel brings people together, overcoming every divide and healing all
wounds. We are completely unified in our essential beliefs, but practice liberty and grace regarding those beliefs that we hold as non-essential. We value every person regardless of their position on essential or non-essential beliefs (1 Corinthians 12 and 14; Romans 12; Ephesians 4; Psalm 133:1; John 14). Therefore …

• We will love everyone always.
  We recognize the infinite value God has placed on every person whatever their background and whatever their story, and we believe Jesus has commanded us to love them regardless of their current circumstances or condition.
• We are a multi-generational church with a next generation vision.
  We celebrate the fact that families can gather, grow and go together, and that by embracing all generations, we are strengthening the fabric of our families and our community.
• We choose cooperation over competition.
  We strive to carry out the Great Commission and the Great Commandment by partnering with each other in teams as well as with other churches, ministries, and mission organizations who share our commitment to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.
• We want our church to look more and more like heaven.
  Revelation 7:9 tells us that heaven is “a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the lamb.” We believe the church is the first wave of heaven’s invasion into earth and therefore should increasingly look like heaven. We recognize that Sunday at 11:00 a.m., is still “the most segregated hour” in America. We grieve the racial division that has scarred our nation and for too long has defined the church in America. We commit to demonstrating the power of the Gospel to bring about reconciliation by striving to become increasingly diverse even as we are increasingly unified around the work and message of the Gospel.

OUR DRIVING CONDITIONS:
(Our Culture)

A culture of excellence …
because it honors God and engages people
(Colossians 3:23; 1 Chronicles 21:18-24)

A culture of authenticity …
because it reveals God and makes the Gospel accessible to everyone
(Isaiah 29:13; Psalm 24:4; 1 Timothy 1:5)

A culture of generosity …
because it reflects God’s character and is the antidote to consumerism
(1 Timothy 6:17-19; Acts 2:44-47; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8)