What Do We Envision God Doing Through Our Church?

Fort Caroline Baptist Church is a regional Southern Baptist Congregation serving Southeast Jacksonville by reaching people from all walks of life.

Our vision statement, with a few examples of how we are fulfilling the vision, is listed below. This is the vision statement I preached to our congregation during my first sermon as Pastor in 1996.

Our vision is…

1. To be a principle-centered and mission-driven fellowship.

• We consistently teach the Scriptures so as to be guided by biblical principles in our mission and methods.
• We continually remind the congregation of our mission to help people “Love God, Love Others, and Serve the World” (Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:18-20).
• We ask people to commit to three environments designed to help them fulfill their mission to Love God (Worship Services), Love Others (LifeGroups), and Serve the World (Ministry and Mission opportunities).
• We continually remind our congregation of the five functions of the church (worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry), and we seek to align our events and budget to these functions.

2. To share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the thousands of people in our community.

• We conduct evangelism training for our members to better share their faith.
• We encourage an “invest and invite” strategy whereby believers invest in the lives in people who are not yet Christ-followers, coupled with an invitation to a worship service or church event.
• We follow-up with all first-time guests in a timely manner through various means.
• We close every worship service with a Gospel presentation and call to trust Christ.
• We challenge every LifeGroup with the goal of reaching out to new people for their group.
• We study the demographics of our community so we can best serve the people God has entrusted to us.

3. To help people experience God in creative, spiritual, celebrative, and relevant worship services.

• We bathe our services in prayer as we seek to glorify God.
• We evaluate everything we do in corporate worship by the Scriptures.
• We use relevant means (music, drama, sermon series, attire, etc.) to communicate the unchanging message of Christ to this generation.
• We speak to real-life issues and needs through biblical sermon series.

4. To impact our community through life-changing ministries.

• We have a weekday preschool academy that provides an award winning education to students as well as a Christian witness to our community.
• We provide professional pastoral counseling through Dr. Carl Kyle.
• We have LifeGroups that serve in our community through ministries such as Arlington Community Services (ACS), The Baptist Home for Children, Trinity Rescue Mission, Waterleaf Elementary School, Mayport Middle School, and Jacksonville University.
• We offer support groups such as Celebrate Recovery, Greif Share, Divorce Care, and Faithful and True.
• We assist people in getting out of debt and becoming good stewards of their finances through Financial Peace University.
• We have a group of ladies who make crocheted blankets and caps for newborn babies at local hospitals, and blankets and caps for chemotherapy patients.

5. To help every member fulfill his/her life’s mission in the world through the discovery, development, and deployment of spiritual gifts.

• We offer training about spiritual gifts and service through our NextSteps classes and sermons.
• We offer opportunities for members to serve in the church and outside the church.
• We began a relationship with WORKTALK ministry in order to help our members live out their Christian values at work and school.
• We challenge every member to live as a missionary to this community.

6. To send out hundreds of church members all around the world on short and long-term mission trips.

• We regularly conduct or sponsor local, national, and international mission trips.
• We have formed a partnership with the Cabaret Baptist Children’s Home and Orphanage in Bercy, Haiti.
• We are in the top 50 out of over 3,000 Cooperative Program-giving churches in the State of Florida.
• We give 10% of undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program, and 2% through the Jacksonville Baptist Association. 

7. To continually foster an atmosphere where members are eager to invite their lost and un-churched friends to Fort Caroline Baptist Church.

• We seek to create relevant environments (worship services, preschool, children, and student ministries, and LifeGroups) at church where people who are not yet Christ-followers will be comfortable and have a desire to return.
• We study the cultural setting of our church, like a missionary, for the purpose of tailoring our ministry approach to this setting.
• We continually evaluate our Guest Services ministry to ensure we are creating an environment where guests and members feel welcomed and have a desire to return.
• We challenge our members to embrace the attitude that we will do whatever it takes short of sinning to reach the lost (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

8. To lead our LifeGroup ministry to grow through proven principles of effective small groups.

• We provide appropriate training for our leaders.
• We seek to move people from a worship service into a LifeGroup.
• We seek to build community through small groups.
• We are committed to the idea that as the church grows larger it must grow smaller at the same time. This can only be done through small groups.
• We encourage the formation of on-campus and off-campus groups.

9. To lead our church to expand opportunities for worship which will accommodate our continued growth.

• We offer contemporary and traditional worship services to best reach the people of our community.
• We have a “holy discontent” with our current size because we are burdened for the 100,000 people within six miles of our church who do not attend anywhere.

10. To strive for excellence in everything we do, giving Christ the best we have to offer.

• We continually evaluate the ministries, functions, and events of our church as we seek ways to improve.
• We continue to improve the facilities and grounds to make them more functional and attractive.