mission + beliefs

Mission

Immanuel is a purposefully diverse and passionate church community in Spokane that exists to worship God in simplicity and beauty, to extravagantly love all without distinction, and embody in words and actions the Good News of God’s kingdom through Jesus Christ.

 

Denominational Affiliation

Immanuel belongs to the Evangelical Covenant Church, a multi-ethnic denomination in nearly 40 countries around the globe (for more about our denomination, go here). Churches in the Covenant can look quite different from one another, but we are united by these six affirmations:

  1. We affirm the centrality of the word of God.

  2. We affirm the necessity of the new birth.

  3. We affirm a commitment to the whole mission of the church.

  4. We affirm the church as a fellowship of believers.

  5. We affirm a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit.

  6. We affirm the reality of freedom in Christ.

For more about how Immanuel interprets and applies these affirmations, you can watch the six sermons collected here.

 

Beliefs

 

In addition to the Covenant Affirmations above, we express our commitment to the following statements:

  • We believe that the God who made the heavens and the earth has revealed himself and his purposes—fully, reliably and authoritatively—in the redemptive narrative of Scripture.

  • He created humanity in his own image to be partners with him, man and woman equally, in the management of creation; this relationship was broken by the disobedience of Adam and Eve, and since then human societies have consistently failed to give allegiance and honor to the true and living God and seek his righteousness.

  • We believe that God responded to this breakdown by forming for himself a covenant people in Abraham to be blessed and to be a blessing to the nations; he remained faithful to them despite their stubbornness and rebellion.

  • We believe that the God of Israel sent his Son, Jesus Christ, not only to save—by his atoning death—his people from the devastating consequences of their sins but also to break down the wall of hostility between all peoples making faith in him accessible to all, both Jew and Gentile.

  • We believe that God raised his Son from the dead and made him Lord over all things, above all powers of empire and commerce and culture, for the sake of his people and for the sake of his own glory in the world; he has given the Holy Spirit to catalyze faith in Christ, to empower godly living, to form compelling community, and to enable effective kingdom ministry.

  • We believe, therefore, that the one God is to be known and worshiped as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

  • We believe that the missional God sends his people – the church – into the world as faithful communities of His Kingdom under the lordship of Jesus to mediate his presence, to walk according to his ways, to reconcile people to himself and the rest of creation, to embody hope, and to be a sign, foretaste and instrument of the Kingdom of God.

  • We believe in the return of Christ, in a final justice, the final defeat of Satan, evil and death. We believe in the new heavens and the new earth, the reconciliation of creator and creation, and the healing of the nations