Who We Are
CHANGING LIVES • TRANSFORMING OUR COMMUNITY
Our Mission
We believe the church is the creative space for you to experience God’s love and build meaningful relationships. Experiencing God’s love should always inspire us to join in God’s work of transforming the world. That’s why our mission is to make disciples of Jesus who change the world. We are an inclusive church that invites everyone to bring their full selves to our community. Join us to grow in your faith, find a caring community, and make a difference.
Our Covenant with One Another
We believe that faith is not just about ideas, but the values and actions that form us into the people God has created us to be. In the late 1960s, members of our church began to gather weekly to pray and reflect on what it would mean to create a shared understanding of our commitments to follow the way of Jesus in our daily lives. This process gave birth to the most formative document in the life of our church: our Church Covenant. Today, we affirm our covenant monthly and at other significant times as a way of reminding ourselves of the ways God calls us to receive and share the love of God as a community of faith.
Vienna Baptist Church Covenant
We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is called to live under His lordship and continue His ministry to the world.
We therefore covenant together as a local expression of His church:
- To engage regularly in the worship of God, Bible study, and opportunities for growth in the Christian faith.
- To live in Christian love and forgiveness in our families, congregation, and relations with all people.
- To fulfill our Christian vocation through the stewardship of life and possessions, both within and beyond the congregation.
- To proclaim the gospel through words and deeds to those whose lives our touch, and provide the resources necessary for others to do so throughout the world.
God Loves You.
We Love You.
No Exceptions
AN INCLUSIVE CHURCH
We believe in a God of ever-expanding, liberating love that embraces the fullness of who we are and frees us to be our most genuine selves. We believe the Church is called to practice Jesus’ radically inclusive love and strive to be a community of belonging where you can bring your whole self. We also believe that “justice is what love looks like in public,” so we seek to join God in building a better world of justice, equity, and inclusion for all people through our work with local coalitions and community partners.
At Vienna Baptist, we welcome all the beauty and diversity that makes you who you are: your age, your race, your ethnicity, your socioeconomic status, your immigration status, your personal history, your gender identity, your sexual orientation, your relationships, your body, your mental, emotional, and physical self, your hopes, your dreams, your doubts, and your questions. We celebrate the uniqueness of every person and affirm that you are a deeply loved child of God. We believe that when we come together with our fullness, we are better able to live and love like Jesus.
The intersecting identities that make you who you are will never disqualify you from full membership and participation at Vienna Baptist. You are invited to participate in Bible study, in worship, in baptism, in communion, in weddings, in baby dedications, in ordination, in any level of leadership, and in all other aspects of communal life.
While this statement reflects our shared values, we are not declaring that we are perfect or have it all figured out. As individuals and as a community, we remain seekers on a journey – learning every day what it means to more fully live and love like Jesus. We seek to hold ourselves accountable to this journey through our membership in the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists, the Alliance of Baptists, and other community partners.
We welcome you to journey with us as we seek to join our lives together and bring our whole selves to our shared mission of changing lives and transforming our community with the love of God.
