Our Identity and Eternal Purpose for Being

We are a Communion of churches, assemblies of believers in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, through whom, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we have been reconciled to the God and Father of us all. As reconciled people, members of the Body of Christ and successors of Apostolic Faith, our eternal purpose of being is to love God, to share in and proclaim His glory, and to live in free and joyful communion with Him and each other; to enjoy His bountiful gifts and offer them and ourselves back to Him in thanksgiving; and to participate in His loving and peaceful care and reign over all creation, manifesting His perfect image and likeness as revealed in Jesus Christ.

Our General Mission - The Ministry of Reconciliation
(Based on the model of Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King)

Toward the realization of our eternal calling, we will strive to be transformed through cooperation with the grace of God, by repentance, and by embracing the sacramental ministry of the Church, so that each person, each local parish, and the communion of churches as a whole may grow toward full maturity in Christ and participate with increasing fullness in the reconciliation with God that has been granted us in Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we will labor to share in the ministry of reconciliation in the following ways:

First, as a prophetic voice in the midst of the Church and the world, we will labor to live and speak the Word of God to each other and to those around us, in love and mercy, yet without compromise. (Prophet)

Second, we will regularly lift up our own lives, the lives of those around us, and all creation to God in intercession, thanksgiving, and adoration through the liturgical action of our local parishes and our common gatherings, endeavoring to redeem and bless everything that He has made and called good. In return we will ask Him to send down upon us the grace of His Holy Spirit to renew us and make us whole. (Priest)

Third, we will strive to manifest the peaceful order, care, and reign of the Kingdom of God to all creation, thus seeking in love to extend the ministry of reconciliation and healing to all that all might be restored to Him and in Him. (King)


Our Distinctive Mission

As a major aspect of this ministry of reconciliation, we will strive to restore to unity all the treasures of God that have been torn apart due to sin, holding in proper balance and tension the paradoxes of the Church and the world - order and creativity, rule and freedom, unity and diversity, tradition and renewal, etc. In that pursuit of balance, we will endeavor to be true to our name: "evangelical" - living and proclaiming the good news of the gospel through strong biblical preaching, teaching, and evangelism, and encouraging people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; and "orthodox" - authentically centered in Christ as He has been and continues to be revealed through apostolic Faith and Tradition. This will involve:

In the Church
  • Intentionally devoting ourselves to apostolic teaching, frequent fellowship, regular sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ, and fervent intercession.
  • Living a community life in which we bear each other's practical, physical, mental, spiritual and emotional burdens, share each other's joys, and encourage one another to faith and godly living, continually anticipating, discerning, and affirming the voice of God in our midst for our common and personal edification and direction.
  • Striving for the restoration of visible unity among Christians by affirming the common Faith of other traditions, by expressing our communion with all who keep that Faith in sincerity, by reflecting evangelical, catholic, and orthodox practices in our life and worship, embracing a prophetic role among churches if God so wills it.
In the World
  • Engaging the culture we live in by worshipping God and articulating the ancient Faith and Tradition in a living way and in a language and style indigenous to each local community.
  • Preaching in word and deed the gospel of repentance, forgiveness, and new life in Jesus Christ and His Kingdom, teaching the commandments of Christ to all who believe and baptizing them in the name of the Trinity.
  • Caring for the poor, afflicted, abandoned, and neglected of our community and offering them a haven of healing, hope, and dignity.


Summary Mission Statement

The mission of the Evangelical Orthodox Church is to proclaim and live out, in the Church and in the world, the reconciliation with God that is ours in Jesus Christ, to the end that God might be all in all and glorified above all.
(Colossians 1:15-20, 1 Corinthians 15:27-28)