We are a Church plant of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) seeking to serve West Madison and East Limestone in Alabama.
Our mission is to make disciples of Christ by proclaiming the gospel, preaching and teaching the Word, administering the sacraments, and committing ourselves to prayer.
Church Planter: Pastor Nathan White
Email: nathan@decaturpca.org for more information
Our mission is laid out for us by Jesus, Himself: To make disciples. This includes calling people to repentance and faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and reconciliation to God as well as coming alongside those who have trusted Him as, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they are conformed more and more into the image of Christ. We believe God has promised to work through the Ordinary Means of Grace, Word, sacrament, and prayer, to grow us both individually and corporately.
Christ for You: We want every person who belongs to our community of believers to know Jesus personally, not simply as an example but as their Lord, Savior, Shepherd, and Friend. We place a high value on the proclamation of the gospel, the message that Jesus lived, died, and was raised for the salvation of sinners, not only in our gathered worship, but also in our personal lives. The hope of this message should permeate every part of the life of a believer. We want Christ for you.
Christ for Us: Christ saves and knows each of us individually, but he also makes us a part of a people! He doesn't save us and send us out to navigate the world alone, but instead places us in his family, surrounding us with others who walk through our lives with us. This body of believers is the Church and Jesus cares so much about it that Scripture calls the Church the Bride of Christ! Being part of this community of disciples, at minimum, includes corporate worship, which is vital to the life of both a Christian and the Church, but it also involves developing relationships shaped by the gospel and built on a shared love of Jesus. We want Good Shepherd to be full of these types of relationships. We want Christ for Us.
Christ for our Community: Christ saves us, places us in his family, and sends us out together to serve our neighbors and proclaim the message of the gospel. We want to foster a genuine love for our community, moving in love toward the people around us. We look for ways to serve the schools, neighborhoods, and other institutions in our area, not just to be good citizens, but because we want to take the love of the Good Shepherd to the people God has placed in our lives. We want Christ for our community.
Christ for the World: Our church does not only want to take the love and message of Christ to our immediate community, but everywhere! We desire to see people come to know Christ and be conformed to his likeness all over our state, nation, and the world for their good and God's glory. We do this by sending money and resources to missionaries in both domestic and international contexts as well as sending people to engage in this work! By God's grace, we want not only to fund missionaries, but send people from our own congregation to join missionary teams and plant churches everywhere we can. We want Christ for the world.