In July of 2025, the leadership of Christ Church Santa Fe presented the congregation with a renewed vision for the ministry of the church. What was presented in person is outlined below. One might reasonably ask why “renewing vision” would be necessary for a church, given that the commission of the Church as issued by Jesus before His ascension (cf. Mt. 28:18-20) is inviolable and unchanging.
We hold firmly to our Savior’s commission to “go…and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” and we recognize that the world into which we go requires of us thoughtful, wise engagement. To that end, we believe that renewing our vision and mission is a necessity for two reasons: 1) ministry context varies and cultures change, necessitating wisdom in how we convey the gospel, and 2) humanity’s need to be reconciled to a holy God through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is universal and unchanging.
To that end, since its inception the gospel mission of the Church has always been both highly flexible its means of connecting people to the gospel of Jesus Christ, while at the same time being highly inflexible in its message as we herald the unchanging, eternal gospel of Jesus Christ.
How did Christ Church Santa Fe engage with refining this renewed vision?
Around the 20 year mark of our church’s inception, the elders began to discuss how we might take a fresh look at what resources the Lord has entrusted us with and how we might best utilize them toward the building of our body and toward fresh gospel engagement with the city of Santa Fe and beyond.
In the ensuing months we engaged in an elder-initiated and led process of engaging with our congregation, also utilizing the considerable consultation skills and experience of one of our members in the process. We initiated an in-depth, comprehensive congregational survey and spent several months processing, collating, and distilling their feedback on the common life, ministry, and mission at CCSF.
We came to distill our vision into three core principles: Belong, Believe, and Bear Fruit.
The Principle of Belonging
It is our conviction that God gave the Church for not only Christians, but for the community in which the church exists. To that end, we see CCSF as a church for Christians and for the city of Santa Fe. The “face” of the church is directed both outward and inward because the Church is called to be not only a community for Christians, but also a community for the curious.
“Belong” is the first principle in our vision for the simple reason that the church is called to be a place where people can belong even before they believe.
This principle is borne out in the Scriptures themselves where you see an abiding concern for both believers and for those who have yet to believe. God has always ordained that His people orient their lived by faith in Him, a faith which automatically ensues in friendship with those who have yet to come to faith (Gen. 12:2-3). Membership in the Body of Christ (Heb. 13:17, I Tim. 5:17) moves us toward love for one another and love for non-Christians (Mt. 5:13-16, 9:36- 38, 22:36-38). Central to Jesus’ ministry were the openly sinful, scandalous, poor, marginalized, and outcast (Mk. 2:16, Mt. 9:10-17, Lk. 5:29-39). Critically, Jesus’ last words to the Church while He was on the earth concerned “going out into all the world” bearing witness to Him (Mt. 28:18-20). From the earliest days, we see that gatherings for worship always made room for those who have yet to put their faith in Jesus Christ (Mt. 21:12. Jn. 2:14-17, Mk. 11:15-17) and for those outside the bounds of God’s covenant people. It is clear that normative worship assumed the presence of non-believers, so that in worship not only is awe elicited from God’s people, but wonder among those who did not (Heb. 10:16-25). A central concern as the early church was being organized was that it would be carried out reverently, in an ordered manner so that it would be accessible and comprehensible not only to believers but to non-believers (I Cor. 14:16-17). For all these reasons, Paul urges both the sharing of the gospel and our lives (I Thess. 2:8, and the writer of Hebrews urges lifestyles of hospitality among Christians (Heb. 13:2). For all these reasons, we are committed to cultivating a ministry in which both believer and non-believer, Christian and curious find a place of belonging in the Church.
The Principle of Believing
We believe that it is by grace that through belief in Jesus Christ that we are set free, reconciled to the God for Whom we were made, and found wholly pleasing and acceptable in His sight. We believe that this is for one reason only: that when we repent of our sins and rely on the finished work of Jesus Christ for us, we receive all the benefits of His justifying work in cleansing us of sin and conferring upon us a perfect righteousness attained by His perfect life.
For these reason, Jesus says that the greatest “work” we can do is to believe in Him. (John 6:28) We recognize that we will struggle, doubt, and sin often. But we also know that because of Jesus, our status as sons and daughters of the living God is unassailable. (Rom. 5:1-15; 8:1-4 We also recognize how we readily we misplace our trust, and how instinctively we commit to ways of contending with our sin and our attempts to be good apart from Christ. We believe it is perilous to rely on anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (Gal. 3:10-14, I Cor. 2:2, I Cor. 15:19, Rom. 14:23) Trusting in Christ is at the same time distrusting in anything apart from Christ, even (maybe especially!) what we imagine to be our “best selves.” We see throughout the Scriptures a contrast between “faith” and “works,” with the insistence that God’s plan has always been that His people would live by faith and not works. It is faith that justified, not our works. (Rom. 5:1-15, Gal. 3:23-29, Rom. 8:1-8) We therefore recognize that it is critical for our life as those who have come to Him by faith, to continue in Him by faith. We are saved by grace through faith and we are sustained by grace through faith. (Col. 2:6-7; I Thess. 4:1) Faith not only justifies, we believe it is the basis of sanctification. So, we enter the Kingdom by repentance and faith, we grow in the Kingdom by repentance and faith in Jesus, and we enjoy Jesus Christ by repentance and faith. (Rom. 5:1-2)
The Principle of Bearing Fruit
We believe that the Kingdom of God was inaugurated by Jesus Christ and continues to break into a world heavy-laden and fractured by sin. (Mt. 12:28, Lk. 17:21) The “fruit” of the Kingdom of God is evidenced where God’s name is hallowed, where human beings are dignified, and where the good life of the Kingdom is flourishing. While we do not believe that good works justify, we do believe that the fruit of faith in Jesus Christ is a life grounded in a profound gratitude to that results in the doing of good works. We expect that God will produce good fruit from the lives of those who trust in Him.
Therefore, we recognize that even as we labor for the Kingdom of God, in Jesus Christ are burdens are made light (Mt. 11:28-30) and God gives the growth. (Jn. 15:1-11, I Cor. 3:5-9) The gospel of Jesus Christ possesses unique power to bring flourishing and fullness of life (Lk. 13:18-23), and God brings this fruition in such a way that the Church flourishes not only for its own sake, but for the glory of God and the good of our neighbors. (I Cor. 10:31) We expect to see this fruit not only inwardly and personally, but outwardly and in community. (Col. 1:5-8) We believe and have experienced that we are able to enjoy life in the Kingdom of God, even as we long for the fullness of it to come (Rom. 8:23ff), in actively seeking the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) by doing the good works that God has prepared for us in advance, giving Him all the glory. (Eph. 2:10ff)
Enacting This Vision
How do we actively stay true to the bearing set by this vision derived from God’s Word?
We rely on the grace of God, and so we pursue dependent, prevailing, Kingdom-centered prayer understanding that “unless the Lord builds the house, its laborers labor in vain.” (Ps. 127:1) In short, as so many of us learned as children, we believe that “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so. I am weak, but He is strong.”
We are vigilant that we never “get over” the gospel of Jesus Christ, recognizing that it is a commodity easily lost, often with the best of intentions. So we strive to keep it at the center, seeking to make it explicit in everything we do, “keeping in step with the truth of the gospel”. (Gal. 2:14)
So, we are intent to see that the elements of this vision are present and growing across every area of ministry, so we will be asking:
Is our ministry comprehensible, accessible, and welcoming to non-Christians?
Is our ministry undergirded by the conviction that it is the Lord who gives life and thriving, as evidenced by how we pray, in our hope, our joy?
Is our ministry producing signs of gospel life so that there is the palpable presence of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control? Does our ministry reflect the light of Jesus Christ in everything we do?
We reflect on these things with humility and hope, recognizing that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, its Cornerstone, her Bridegroom, that we are the fellowship purchased with His blood. And we believe that His love for us is greater than we can ever fully apprehend, so we cast our cares upon Him, eager to serve Him and enjoy the good news of His coming until He comes again.