Growing Ministry, Growing Vision:       

The Gospel Impacts our Community

Westminster exists to glorify God and to ignite a movement of the gospel that changes individual lives and communities in the greater Elgin area and through Elgin changes the world.

Section I-Basic Strategy and Structure

With this purpose, we will carefully organize the ministries of our church so that, from the youngest to the oldest, we can work together, by the power of the Spirit, to effect great change here and in the North-West Suburbs. Our goal is not to simply enjoy the benefits or point out the failures of this area, but to serve Christ here and see his Kingdom expand here.

Connecting

Connecting those in Elgin to Christ through:

1. Gospel centered worshipis our ultimate purpose. As God is the subject of our worship services we will continue to honor, glorify, and adore him. We will continue to focus on the gospel believing that both those who believe and those who don’t will be challenged to look to Christ by participating in our worship services.

2. Group-based ministrieswill provide the backbone of our church. This will consist of a network of Community Groups, Bible-studies, support groups, ministry teams and recreational ministries in which face-to-face, caring friendships develop.

Building

Building Christians into Servant-leaders through:

3. Prayer ministrieswillgather groups for prayer to seek God’s face and praise him for what he has already done. Without prayer and reliance on God’s grace, all of our strategies are hollow.

4. Assimilation ministrieswill intentionally assimilate those who attend Westminster into our family through ministries such as Community Groups, Sunday school classes, and various ministry teams.

5. Fellowship ministrieswill gather us together as a whole family. We will encourage Christians of all ages and family status to provide support for each other as a Christian family.

6. Youth Ministrieswill follow a biblical model of covenantal care for children. We will devote specific attention and resources to reach, nurture, and equip young people from nursery through Youth Group.

7. Christian education ministrieswill serve young people from Pre-School through 12th grade through Sunday school, Westminster Christian School, and other educational outlets. Students will be equipped to serve in God’s Kingdom in various contexts according to their individual gifts. 

8. Ministries of healing & restorationwill seek to provide help to those who have particular needs for help and counseling. Our Diaconal ministry, Community Groups, support groups, and Westminster Christian School can be connected to a professional counselor who might sponsor various classes and seminars to promote healing and restoration.

9. Discipling and leadership developmentwill characterize all our ministries. We will emphasize discipleship and mentoring relationships in order to help old and new Christians mature into servant-leaders. Community Groups, the Leadership Development Class, and Sunday school will be especially geared towards raising up elders, shepherds, and servant-leaders.

10. Gift coordination ministrieswill help people not simply discover their gifts and callings, but find their place to use them in God’s Kingdom. This is the natural fruit of our being good stewards of the people God has gifted to Westminster.

Releasing

Releasing Servant-leaders through :

11. Mercy ministrieswill equip and encourage various ministries in our church to participate in opportunities to show mercy in order to that we might develop a church-wide commitment to serve.  Like Nehemiah, we seek to reweave the physical and social fabric of the community.

12. Outreach ministrieswill reach out with the gospel to our growing area through evangelism, discipling, and education. We will seek to become a church that deliberately “invites.” Further, like Ezra, we will commit to church renewal and church planting.

13. World missionsministrieswill continue to train, send, and support Christians for short and long-term mission projects world-wide with preference given to Mission to the World, and Mission to North America.