Our Vision
The vision of La Jolla Community Church is to equip people to love and serve Jesus Christ.
Our Mission
We will fulfill our vision by helping people grow in personal relationship with Jesus Christ, with fellow Christians, and in practical love for all people.
Our Core Values
Our Core Values are based on the Eight Quality Characteristics of a Healthy Church described in the Natural Church Development Process, the model we've been following to guide our growth since our inception. As a church, we value:
- Passionate Spirituality
- Need-Oriented Evangelism
- Functional Structures
- Gift-Oriented Ministry
- Loving Relationships
- Holistic Small Groups
- Inspiring Worship
- Empowering Leadership
Our Vision
The vision of La Jolla Community Church is to equip people to love and serve Jesus Christ.The Church of Jesus Christ is intended to transform the world. Jesus commands His disciples to love and serve Him and one another, to make disciples, teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. We are to be salt and light in the world, a city set on a hill. We are to be passionately committed to God’s purposes in the world which include stewardship of creation, proclamation of the gospel, practical expressions of justice and compassion for people in need. We are to have an impact that brings people to personal saving faith in Jesus Christ, builds them up in their faith, connects them to fellow believers and equips them to join God in His work in the world.
Our Mission
We will fulfill our vision by helping people grow in personal relationship with Jesus Christ, with fellow Christians, and in practical love for all people.This three-fold commitment reflects a primary vertical relationship with the Lord and also a strong horizontal relationship with fellow believers and also those not yet saved. We begin in worship and continue our worship through acts of friendship and service in the world. It is a progressive, continuous commitment to personal and corporate relationship expressed through discipleship. It is anchored in the sovereign authority of God and moves us into the world in the name of Jesus. This mission describes the Church alive and on the move rather than dying and in retreat. Our motivation is the love of God made personal and real in Jesus Christ. This love from God is the means for us to reach out to the world in Jesus’ name. It is God’s will that we can continually grow in these three relationships throughout the course of our life. The grace of God in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit makes this possible. This is what we were made for.
Our Core Values
Passionate Spirituality: Growing up into maturity in Christ.Effective ministry flows out of a passionate spirituality. Spiritual intimacy leads to a strong conviction that God will act in powerful ways. A godly vision can only be accomplished through an optimistic faith that views obstacles as opportunities and turns defeats into victories.
The important issue here is not the way spirituality is expressed, but the fact that faith is actually lived out with commitment, fire and enthusiasm. The methods a church used are really a secondary concern. A church that lives its faith with passionate fervor will experience success with many a method.
Need-oriented Evangelism: Where your story joins God’s story
Need-oriented evangelism intentionally cultivates relationships with pre-Christian people so they can become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ who are actively participating within the life of the church and community. Using appropriate ministries and authentic relationships, believers can guide others into the family of God.
Growing churches are not “pushy” or “manipulative” in the way they share the gospel, rather, their secret is to share the gospel in a way that meets the questions and needs of pre-Christians.
Functional Structures: The Church as the living body of Christ
The Church is the living Body of Christ. Like all healthy organisms, it requires numerous systems that work together to fulfill its intended purpose. Each must be evaluated regularly to determine if it is still the best way to accomplish the intended purpose.
The most important criterion for forms and structures in the church is if they fulfill their purpose or not. Church structures are never an end in themselves but always only a means to an end.
Gift-oriented Ministry: You have a part in building God’s kingdom
The Holy Spirit sovereignly gives to every Christian spiritual gift(s) for the building of God’s kingdom. Church leaders have the responsibility to help believers discover, develop and exercise their gifts in appropriate ministries so that the Body of Christ “grows and builds itself up in love.”
The role of church leadership is to help its members identify their gifts and integrate them into ministries that match their gifts. When a person lives according to their spiritual giftedness, they are no longer working in their own strength, but the Holy Spirit works in and with them. Studies show that most Christians are not involved in ministry or they function in a ministry that does not match their gifts.
Loving Relationships: Love builds authentic Christian community
Loving relationships are the heart of a healthy, growing church. Jesus said people will know we are his disciples by our love. Practical demonstration of love builds authentic Christian community and brings others into God’s kingdom.
Unfeigned, practical love endows a church with a much greater magnetic power than all the marketing efforts of this world. Growing churches manifest a measurably higher “love quotient” than stagnant or declining ones. Love brings out the best in people!
Holistic Small Groups: Intimate community, practical help and intensive spiritual interaction
Holistic small groups are disciple-making communities which endeavor to reach believers, the un-churched, meet individual needs, develop each person according to their God-given gifts and raise leaders to sustain the growth of the church. Like healthy body cells, holistic small groups are designed to grow, multiply and enhance life.
Growing churches develop a system of small groups where individual Christians can find intimate community, practical help and intensive spiritual interaction. In the groups, not only is the biblical text discussed, but they apply biblical insights to everyday personal issues. There is much joy, too!
Inspiring Worship: Being deeply moved by God
Inspiring worship is a personal and corporate encounter with the living God. Both personal and corporate worship must be infused with the presence of God resulting in times of joyous exultation and times of quiet reverence. Inspiring worship is not driven by a particular style or liturgy – it’s the shared experience of God’s awesome presence among his people who gather to worship him in spirit and truth.
Is the worship service an inspiring experience for those who attend? It is not whether our services target Christians or non-Christians, whether they celebrate in traditional ways or in a more secular language, or whether we worship using a liturgical or a more free-flowing approach. Inspiring worship services are often described as… inspiring!
Empowering Leadership: Equipping the saints for ministry
Effective leadership begins with an intimate relationship with God, resulting in Christ-like character and a clear sense of God’s calling for leaders’ lives. As this base of spiritual maturity increases, effective pastors and leaders multiply, guide, empower, equip and affirm disciples to realize their full potential in Christ and work together to accomplish God’s vision. They recruit and coach.
Leaders consider it as one of their most important tasks to help Christians develop greater degrees of empowerment. They equip, support, motivate, mentor and coach individuals to become all that God wants them to be.
Our core values stem from the Natural Church Development (NCD) Process, which our church has followed since our inception. Basically, they describe the eight essential qualities of a healthy church -- the result of an extensive research project conducted with a thousand congregations located on every continent. The NCD principles are being applied to tens of thousands of churches around the world. When these qualities are present in a church, it is healthy. Without them it is impossible to be a healthy church. We will measure our progress and development against these qualities through annual surveys. These qualities will be the benchmark for our life together as a church.
Read about what we believe (LJCC's Essential Doctrines).