About Us

I. Vision & Mission

Vision

-       Our vision is a growing, Christian fellowship of diverse, English-speaking disciples.

Mission

-       Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

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II. Core Values

Worship

-       God has created us, redeemed us, and called us to know Him, love Him, and live our whole lives for His glory.  Because He has saved us from our sin and misery, united us with Himself through Christ, given us purpose and joy in living today, and promised eternal life with Himself in heaven tomorrow, our first response is to simply worship Him.  We are in awe of His glory, His love, and His mercy upon us and so we cherish the times to gather and worship Him together.

-       Because loving God grows with knowing God more, we commit to prayer and the study of Scripture not only in Sunday worship but also personally, with our families, and together in discipleship groups.  As a church, we also provide programs for our children to learn about and grow in Christ.

Evangelism

-       Jesus, our Lord, told us that we are not to keep the good news of God’s love for only ourselves.  “As you go, make disciples” (Matthew 28.19) was His commission, and so in everything we aim to reach out, connect, and bring others along with us as we follow Jesus.  Every aspect of our church and personal lives are invitational to those who are hurting, questioning, and seeking the ultimate answer.

-       Christ’s commission was for the gospel to be spread to the ends of the earth (Acts 1.8).  Since our church is mostly limited to spreading the gospel in Guadalajara, we participate financially and prayerfully in mission activities happening far beyond our city.

Fellowship

-       We are estranged in various ways: some of us are in a foreign country; some are far from friends or family; and all of us have suffered the alienation of our own and others’ sin.  The reconciliation we have with God and each other in Christ, however, is greater than these, and so we make a point to celebrate our unity and the joyful fellowship we share in being God’s family.

-       As did the New Testament church, we care for the needy within our fellowship (Acts 4.34-35, Hebrews 13.16).  From our offerings we set aside a percentage for benevolence distribution within our church family.

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III. Starting Points

Scripture

-       We believe that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is God’s infallible Word, authoritative for us in life and doctrine (Joshua 1.7-8, II Timothy 3.14-17, Hebrews 4.12, II Peter 1.20-21).

Creeds

-       We profess the historic creeds of the Christian church: the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds.

Confessions

-       We align theologically with the Reformed confessions—such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and Canons of Dort.

Affiliation

-       We are an English-speaking congregation of King of Kings Presbyterian Church (Rey de Reyes Iglesia Presbiteriana), a congregation within the denomination, The National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.

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IV. Steps of Discipleship

Lost

-       God made the entire universe, all people, and all spiritual beings.  He made humans in particular for fellowship with Himself and with one another, but we opted to go our own way.  This choice is called sin and it has brought suffering and death to our entire race and all creation (Genesis 1-3, Romans 6.23, Romans 8.19-22).

Faith

-       Mysteriously God works to bring to Himself all those whom he has chosen to rescue from sin and death.  Some of us see Jesus through someone’s love for us, others by someone’s testimony, some by the evidence of God’s glory in the natural order, and yet others through the teaching and example of godly people of the church.  But in every case God opens our hearts by His Holy Spirit to receive by faith His incredible gift of salvation paid for by the death of His Son, Jesus (Ephesians 1.3-14).

Baptism

-       To assure us of His washing away our sin and our rebirth in Christ, God gives us the sign of baptism.  Since God makes relationships with whole families and communities, baptism is for both adult believers and their children, as was the Old Testament sign of circumcision (Genesis 7.7-13, Acts 2.38-39, Acts 16.33, Colossians 2.11-12).

Lord’s Supper

-       To reassure us that our debt of sin is paid and that we are now one with Him, Jesus calls us to celebrate His finished work on the cross in the Lord’s Supper.  Everyone who has been baptized in a Christian church and is living a repentant life of discipleship is welcome to share this meal with us (Exodus 12.1-30, Luke 22.7-20, I Corinthians 11.23-29).

Gratitude

-       God gave His only Son for our salvation.  So nothing we can give in response is too much.  Paul, in Romans 12.1, calls us to offer ourselves as “living sacrifices.”  Everything we are and possess we gratefully and joyfully submit to God’s rule and disposal, however He desires.  The following examples are some of the ways by which we seek to live lives of gratitude.

  • Using our spiritual gifts, time, and skills to participate in the mission of God’s people is a natural outflow from our gratitude to God.  So, disciples at English Fellowship eagerly serve in Christ’s church in as many ways as God calls (I Corinthians 12.7, Colossians 3.23-24).
  • Though some are called to more, all of us will give to God at least the first ten percent of our income as a thank offering to Him.  This offering of the first fruits is a pledge that the other 90% too is His and for His use.  We know from God’s Word and experience that giving is critical for strengthening our devotion to God and helping spare us from the love of money (Genesis 14.20, Genesis 28.22, Numbers 18.21, Proverbs 3.9, Malachi 3.8-12, Matthew 23.23, Luke 12.22-34).
  • Sharing in the fellowship of believers is critical for our own and others’ growth in discipleship.  Disciples at English Fellowship attend worship services, take time for a personal or family devotional life, and participate in discipleship groups for their own and others’ edification (Deuteronomy 6.6-9, Hebrews 10.24-25, Ephesians 6.18).

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V. Program of Discipleship

Discipleship Groups

-       Throughout the week, discipleship groups meet in people’s homes for Scripture study, prayer, and fellowship.  These groups facilitate disciples’ maturation and growth in Christ-likeness.  Topics of the discipleship groups relate to the current sermon series and devotional studies.

Devotional Guides

-       For personal use or with your family, we offer Scripture readings and discussion questions for four days of the week during most seasons of the year.  These devotional studies coincide with the themes of our church’s discipleship groups and Sunday preaching.  Days of the week and seasons of the year when devotions are not offered, we encourage individuals and families to continue the habit of studying Scripture modeled by these devotional studies.

Sunday Worship

-       The highlight of our week is gathering all together for worship.  We sing, share testimonies, give our offerings, pray, learn from God’s Word, and receive the signs of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Children’s Ministry

-       In keeping with our promise at their baptism, we do all we can to “train our children in the way they should go” (Proverbs 22.6).  Though very young, children are capable of true discipleship.  In fact, children are adults’ models for saving faith (Mark 10.5).

  • To welcome children who are infants and toddlers, we offer nursery care.  The nursery is located in the back room of the garden, located immediately next door to our church building, The Bridge Club.
  • During the week, we offer a discipleship curriculum for kids called Awana.  In Awana, children learn stories of the Bible, enjoy fun activities, and memorize Scripture.  The aim is for children to learn and experience God’s love and for them to respond by placing their faith in His Son, Jesus.

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VI. Coming with Us

Joining our Fellowship

-       We would love to have you join us so that we can follow Jesus together.  Whether you anticipate living in Guadalajara for 4 weeks or 14 years, we invite you to come along.  Here’s why.

  • To love God.  We honor God by publicly acknowledging our love for Him and by publicly declaring our commitment to following His Son, Jesus (Matthew 10.32-33, John 6.29).  By joining a church body, we also honor Christ’s desire that His followers express the unity they possess in Him (John 17.11).  Finally, by joining together we can better accomplish God’s will to spread the good news of His salvation to our city and the world.
  • To love others.  Committing to love God is never separate from committing to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  By promising to follow Jesus together, we are afforded many more opportunities to serve one another and to be served by each other, all in the name of Christ, thereby tangibly giving and receiving God’s love.  The early church modeled a strong emphasis on commitment to one another in Christian fellowship; we are eager to follow the apostles’ example (I John 3.16, I Corinthians 12.12-27, Proverbs 27.17, Acts 2.42-47).
  • To grow personally.  When our focus is to love God and love others, we also love ourselves in the process.  Jesus has taught us that we must lose our life to gain it.  Joining English Fellowship and sharing fully in the discipleship activities and service opportunities will facilitate the work of God in your life, helping you grow in the likeness of Christ (Luke 14.25-27, II Peter 3.18).

-       Becoming and remaining a disciple within our fellowship is simple.

  • First, complete the Discipleship Orientation course to find out who we are and how you can get involved with us.
  • Second, testify to your faith in Christ and commit to being a disciple within our fellowship.  (If you have not before been baptized in a Christian church, at this time you will be baptized.)
  • Third, on a yearly basis, join with all of us in recommitting to being Christ’s disciples together.

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VII. Service Opportunities

Ways to Get Involved

-       Every disciple in English Fellowship is invited to put into practice the gifts and fruits of Christ’s Spirit, which He has given to each one of us.  Faith expressing itself in love is an indispensible ingredient for growth in discipleship.  So, the following list gives examples of some of the ways, in which you can exercise your service to Christ and His body.

  • Physical Labor
    • Worship Space Set-up Crew
    • Worship Space Take-down Crew
  • Administration
    • PowerPoint Preparation
    • Bulletin Writing
    • Bulletin Printing/Folding
    • Website Management
    • Welcome/Prayer Cards Printing
    • Accounting
  • Pastoral
    • Shepherds
    • Discipleship Group Leaders
  • Diaconal
    • Ushers
  • Worship
    • Praise Team Leader
    • Praise Team Musicians
    • PowerPoint Manager
    • Sound Engineering Crew
  • Children’s Ministry
    • Awana Leaders
    • Nursery Care Providers
  • Hospitality
    • Refreshments Coordinator
    • Refreshments Set-up Crew
    • Welcome/Prayer Cards Manager
    • Lord’s Supper Coordinator

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VIII. Organizational Topics

Stewardship

-       English Fellowship is committed to being financially transparent.  We fully disclose all of our income and expenditures.  To view our financial information, click here and enter the password, which is available by emailing us through this website’s “Contact Page.”

-       We are also committed to honoring God by how we spend what He provides.  How we have arranged our budget means to reflect God’s expectation of his children to be both responsible and faith-driven in how they deal with money.  In making this budget we have also sought to value what the first churches in the New Testament valued.

  • First (1), we pay The Bridge Club of Guadalajara for the rent of their building.  Second (2), we provide for the costs of our children’s ministry.  Third (3), the remainder is divided as follows:  60% for supplies—promotion, music equipment, cookies, etc.  30% for benevolence needs within the church family.  10% for missions outside our church.
  • Think of numbers 1, 2, and 3 as buckets, and think of people’s offerings as water.  When bucket 1 is full, money begins to fill bucket 2.  When bucket 2 is full, money begins to fill bucket 3.  When money enters bucket 3, the amount is split into the three categories, according to a 60, 30, 10 ratio.

Structure

-       The governing body over the pastor of English Fellowship, holding him accountable to his calling and the proper execution of his responsibilities, is the session of elders and pastor of King of Kings Presbyterian Church (Rey de Reyes Iglesia Presbiteriana).

-       With counsel from the pastor and advice of the church’s accountant, the ushers determine with reliance on God’s guidance how and to whom to distribute the benevolence funds for those in need in our fellowship (Acts 6.1-3).

-       A small group of leaders and the pastor, dedicated to “the ministry of the Word and prayer” (Acts 6.4), provide spiritual and pastoral leadership for the congregation.  These shepherds meet regularly for prayer and ministry to the congregation and are available to you for counsel and prayer.

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IX. Our Position on Frequently Asked Questions

Headship

-       We believe that both women and men are called to learn, to grow, and to develop in a myriad of capacities for service to God in society, the home, and the church.  All of the Spirit’s gifts (prophesy, teaching, healing, service, etc.) and fruits (patience, joy, peace, kindness, etc.) are for both men and women who are in Christ.  God has also called both men and women to mature into Christ-like servants for offering their leadership in any number of situations and organizations.  However, responsibility for final authority and final doctrinal teaching in both the home and the church is a burden God has placed upon husbands, fathers, and men in the church.  Theirs is a role of spiritual headship for both the nuclear family and the spiritual family, the church.

-       This in no way undermines the Scriptural teaching of equal value, spiritual capacity, and spiritual giftedness between women and men.  Neither does this limit the activities, in which women can engage in politics, the workplace, or society.  Nor does this Scriptural truth grant any excuse for dominance or arrogance by men whatsoever in the least.  What it does do is call men to their responsibility to follow the example of Christ in a unique way as they lay down their lives in love and sacrifice for the sake of their wives and children in their homes and for the sake of all members of Christ’s body in the church.  The implication of this is that the offices of pastor and elder are to be filled by godly men of the church, and the responsibility for spiritual leadership in a home is to be met by the husband and father of the family.  In cases where a home is without a Christian husband or father, the believing mother will spiritually lead her children, in particular reliance upon the leadership of the church (Genesis 2.18-25, Proverbs 31.10-31, Ephesians 5.22-33, Titus 1.5-9, I Timothy 3.1-13, I Peter 3.1-7).

Sexuality

-       God has made us sexual beings, male and female (Genesis 2.15-25).  God’s will for most people is that when they reach adulthood, they marry—one man with one woman—and this union is a permanent relationship into which God may place children for their godly upbringing and for the parents’ sanctification and joy.  For some, God’s will is that they serve Him while they remain single—for a short time or a lifetime (I Corinthians 7).  God has also allowed some people to have homosexual tendencies.  Having these tendencies is not a sin (though their presence is a result of our fallen world), but capitulating to their temptation is sin and must be resisted (Genesis 19.1-29, I Corinthians 6.9, James 4.7).   God calls such an individual to singleness or to learning to develop affections for persons of the opposite gender and then marriage.  For all Christians, God desires purity of heart (Matthew 6.27-28).  Since a god-glorifying sexuality begins with righteous thoughts and affections, we must remember the appeal of Romans 12.2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Alcohol

-       God has made everything in this world, including alcohol.  God wants us to enjoy and make use of what He has made for us (John 2.1-11, I Timothy 5.23).  However, if we become drunk we dishonor ourselves, whom God has made to be honorable since we are made in His image (Genesis 1.27, Proverbs 20.1), and we will no longer be fully ready to testify to the good news of God’s love in Christ and serve others in the power of the Spirit (I Peter 3.15, Ephesians 5.15-20).

Holy Spirit

-       The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, has been involved with God’s creation from the beginning (Genesis 1.2).  Throughout the Old Testament, God sent his Spirit to fill and enable His servants for particular tasks and responsibilities (Exodus 31.3, Judges 13.25).  The prophet, Joel, prophesied that a new age of the Spirit would come, and the apostle, Peter, recognized its commencement at Pentecost (Acts 2.1-41).  This renewed outpouring of God’s Spirit has come through the mediation of Jesus Christ (John 20.21-23, Acts 1.8) and its purpose is for the proclamation of the gospel of salvation and for the edification of the church (I Corinthians 12.7).  At English Fellowship we joyfully receive the power of God through His Spirit—His gifts and fruits, knowing that these are not the end, but the means for helping us love God, love our neighbor, and witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

End Times

-       Jesus told us that He is coming soon (Revelation 22.7), and so we must always be ready for Him (Matthew 25.42-25.13).  Though Christ calls us to keep watch and read the signs of the times (Mark 13.1-37), we also know that we can never be sure of the timing of the end until it has actually arrived (Mark 13.32).  However, it is our great joy to anticipate this day when our faith will be sight, evil will be destroyed, and everything will be made new (Revelation 21-22).

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X. Resources

Website

-       English Fellowship’s calendar of events, recordings of sermons, sermon handouts, financial data, tips for living in Guadalajara, and other information is available on this website.

Seminary

-       God has provided a local seminary for all whom He is calling to grow even further in their capacity for service in His kingdom.  Offering classes in Spanish, the Seminario Reformado en Guadalajara trains students in basic Greek and Hebrew, biblical studies, church history, theology, hermeneutics, homiletics, biblical counseling, church planting, and history and ecclesiology of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.  Visit the website for free lectures, resources, and more information, <www.seminarioreformado.org.mx>.