what is the covenant community?

the covenant community is a group of people committed to supporting paradox church in every aspect that they can. that includes a covenant to give of themselves what God has called them to give - be it time, money, effort, creativity...anything.

becoming a part of the covenant community is not something to be taken lightly. a covenant is a serious thing and needs to be made with a full understanding of what you are committing to. the following should help you to gain a better understanding of what is expected of someone in the covenant community as well as what someone in the covenant community can expect from paradox church. if you have further questions, please contact our teaching pastor, nate helm (nate.helm@theparadoxchurch.org).

our ecclesiology

the church labors to be as culturally accessible to lost people as possible. the structure is rooted in biblical theology, not in secular organizational theology. the church has leaders but is not organized by hierarchy. the role of the pastoral staff is comparable to that of the biblical elders of the church. they are the spiritual authorities, guides to the direction of the church, and resources for equipping members based on the vision of the church. the deacons are responsible for creating budgets submitted to them by the pastoral staff and for the distribution of money. the covenant community are those who are committed to advancing the kingdom in our culture through serving, giving of their time and/or money and praying.

our infrastructure

our infrastructure is broken down into six parts that we visualize as a cube with the vision being on top and everything else coming from it. all ministries are fully empowered, but all operate under these principles. this gives us unity and enables us to accomplish the same vision. the principles act as boundaries that allow the ministries to run free within them.

the vision (what)

a people inspired to live by the ancient text, living in the present context, while composing future textures.

in this vision statement, we are declaring that we are a people committed to getting to the "roots" of our faith through the biblical text, both old and new testaments. we are affirming that through this journey of exploring our roots we find the inspiration to live it out today, in the present. we find ourselves in this ancient story and it inspires us to become an active part with Jesus in reconciling the world. as we take part in the first two dimensions of the past and the present, we find ourselves naturally creating a future. we don't believe the future just happens, but we create a future that is firmly rooted in the Bible. ultimately, Jesus wins!

the mission (how)

to bring heaven to earth (matthew 6:10) by living in the tension (acts 17:16-34) of our culture colliding with the kingdom of God (revelation 21:1-3, matthew 22:37-40).

we desperately desire to bring God's space into our space and we believe that through Jesus and being a follower of Him, He calls us to do just that. we will attempt to bring our postmodern culture into a collision with God's kingdom. He calls us to be in the world, but not of it.

the purpose (who)

we define ourselves as "talmidim" (hebrew for "disciples") who not only hunger to know what Jesus knows but to become like Him in every way.

Jesus calls us to follow. we believe that He calls us to a blessed life through hungering and thirsting for Him and His righteousness (matthew 5:6). we know that somewhere underneath all the traditions, upbringings, and baggage we have created is the truth, and when we find it, it will set us free. not only do we hunger to know the truth, but also to become like Jesus through our actions (john 14:12). we can know all the truth, but if we don't act on it, our search will be in vain. Jesus changed the world and calls us as His followers to continue changing it until He returns.

the tactic (where)

we encourage each member of our community to serve wherever the Lord plants him/her. as a body we have been called to serve our community in such a way that lives are made better by our presence here. "bless to be a blessing" (genesis 12:2-3).

as heirs of abraham's promise (galatians 3:29), we believe that as God has blessed us, we should be a blessing to everyone we come in contact with. we are called to serve where God has planted us now, first in "our jerusalem" and do missions right here in our own backyard. we feel we are here to bless south dayton and are a gift to the community through serving, helping, feeding, clothing, and offering hope to its people through Jesus.

the philosophy (why)

"stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls" (jeremiah 6:16).

in this context, to "stand" means to explore the narrative story of the Bible and see where we fit into it. to "look" means to search through the hebraic roots of our faith. to "ask" means just that: ask questions. the only way to find answers is to ask, even if our answer is simply another question. to "walk" is "teshuvah" and "halacha," hebrew words for repentance and walking. "teshuvah" means to return and "halacha" means to walk according to God's word and hitting the mark in life. to "find" means to achieve "shalom" or peace, wholeness, completeness, and a oneness with self through Jesus the messiah.

the strategy (when)

we desire to be a community actively seeking opportunities to affect people's lives both now and in the future. our hope is that if we were no longer here, the city would protest (matthew 10:7, 8).

we want to actively use the imagination and creativity that God has blessed us with to create an environment of transformation, whether it is through events, ministries or community opportunities. if we were to move or close our doors, the city would grieve because we have done so much good in the community.