We are a church that gathers people from around the world, grows them in their ability to follow Jesus and apply themselves to God’s purposes, and then scatters them to wherever God is taking them next. We sometimes abbreviate this by saying “gather/grow/scatter.” We are this way mostly because we are in the Triangle. This is a highly transient community, with people coming from all over the world. And because they leave too – often because of graduating from one of our universities – we say a lot of good-byes. We could mumble and complain about seeing people go all the time, but over our years we have chosen to see the cup as half full (if not more) and see God using us to grow and scatter his people.
The Bible Church reflects the diversity of heaven. Because people come to the Triangle from all over the world, there are many cultures in the area; many of them are represented in the Bible Church. At one time, we counted 35 countries in our congregation. We are diverse in other ways too. Some churches are predominantly older people and they long for youth and new blood in their church; others are predominantly young and lacking in older mentors. We have a full range of ages in our congregation. And we also attract people from many different denominational backgrounds: Methodists, Presbyterians, Mennonites, Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, and more. Our ability to honor one another is a witness of the work of the Holy Spirit. And in listening and learning from each other, we expand our understanding of the kingdom of God.
We have created several successful kingdom ventures. The Bible Church has not been about building itself up, but about creating a variety of institutions that reflect and further God’s kingdom. They include churches (e.g., Emmaus Way and Chatham Community Church) and ministries (e.g., The Counseling Center, Pregnancy Support Services, Africa Rising, and Raspberry Ridge Summer String Camp).
We partner in ministry. By partnership, we mean learning from as well as investing in others; being ministered to as well as ministering. We view the Bible Church missionaries as ministry partners. For example, they often help us understand the many cultures in our congregation, and how to build unity in Christ across cultures. We have also developed partnerships with several churches: Mavuno Downtown Church in Nairobi, Kenya (one of the Nairobi Chapel family of churches), Powerhouse Church in Mamelodi, South Africa, and Antioch Baptist Church in Durham. We have both blessed and been blessed by these two-way relationships.
There many other things God has done through the Bible Church – too many to name. But these four show a pattern of God’s activity that is recognized by many. They are his fingerprints on our church that make us who we are. They do not make us better than other churches; they describe the personality that God has given us. Our gifts, if you will.