Mission:

Reproducing mature believers who love and serve God and one another

The Faith Baptist Church Mission Statement is a concise declaration of what we are all about. We are not about things, we are about people. Rather than major on what we do, the Mission Statement emphasizes what we reproduce: Mature Believers Who Love and Serve God and One Another.

The existence of our church is based on two key scriptures:
The Great Motive: "Jesus said unto them, Thou shalt love the Lord thy god with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
The Great Missions: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you..."

Five Reasons Faith Baptist Church Exists:

- We exist to communicate God's Word: Evangelism "Go ye therefore and teach all nations..."
- We exist to celebrate God's presence: Worship "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart... soul... mind..."
- We exist to incorporate God's family into our fellowship: Fellowship "...Baptizing them in the name of the Father ...Son ...Holy Ghost..."

- We exist to educate God's people: Discipleship "...teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you..."

- We exist to demonstrate God's love: Mercy "...love thy neighbor as thyself..."

Vision:

The leadership of Faith Baptist Church has prayerfully considered the future of our church. Where does God want us to go? What is the vision of the future for Faith Baptist Church ?

To answer this question, three thoughts were considered. First, "What does the Bible say should be our priorities?" Through the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign last year, we collectively discovered five purposes: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry and Evangelism.

Our second question was, "What has God gifted us to do?" To answer this we considered what we do best and what our congregation and leadership are passionate about. We felt that God has gifted us in the area of Bible preaching and teaching.

The third question we considered had to do with our community. "What are the needs of our community?" Though many exist, we believe one of the greatest needs is an understanding of God's Word. Many people have joined our church after an exhausting search for a Bible teaching church. It appears there is a famine of a church that teaches and preaches the truthfulness and authority of God's Word.

When we think about these three questions, it becomes apparent that God has uniquely placed Faith Baptist Church to be a church that should excel at learning and living the un compromised Word of God.

The leadership of Faith Baptist Church has formulated a vision statement that will challenge and motivate all of us to follow.

Every person with an open Bible growing to be like Jesus.

This is what our vision statement involves:

- Giving away Bibles. We want to become more extensive in Bible publishing and delivering those Bibles locally and worldwide.

- Bible Teaching. We want to improve and multiply our Bible teaching ministries. Our desire is to offer a variety of approaches to discovering God's truth in His Word: pulpit, classrooms, Small groups, Personal, Family, Music, Bible Institute, Radio, Correspondence Courses and the Internet.

- Christlikeness. The danger of becoming a Bible teaching church is that it leads to head-knowledge without life-change. Our vision becomes complete when people become like Christ through interaction with God's Word. To ensure this, individuals need to become involved in accountable relationships, both one-on-one and in Small Groups. We want to challenge each person to consider areas of growth and invite others to challenge them to grow.

Based on our Vision Statement, we recommend five initiatives to complete in the next five years.

- Building. We are running out of Christian education space. To complete all the other initiatives requires more areas for Bible teaching. The Winter/Spring of 2006 will be our "Walk in Love ... Build in Faith" Campaign. Our first test will be to receive the largest one-time gift in the history of our church: $100,000 to pay off our mortgage. Along with a large one-time gift, we are asking individuals and families to commit a monthly gift for three years to finance a $500,000 facility expansion. This expansion will double our classroom and parking space. The goal is to build the new facility by 2010.

- Bible Institute. To provide advanced training and equipping in biblical and doctrinal studies, Faith Baptist Church Bible Institute will begin in Fall 2006 in cooperation with Evangelical Training Association. Evening classes will be available at a reduced cost.

- Broadcast. To expand the pulpit teaching ministry of Faith Baptist Church, a local radio program will extend Bible teaching and preaching to every person in Lenawee County .

- Bible Distribution. Our desire is to expand our present Bible publishing ministry by purchasing equipment to be able to produce Bibles on a regular basis. Also, we want to give a personalized New Testament to every home in Lenawee County (35,000).

- Birth a New Church. As our ministry expands into new areas, we foresee the birth of a new church within 50 miles of Adrian. This will involve finances and members to actively assist in this endeavor.