Trinity City Church is a new church starting in the community surrounding Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This church is being supported by the EFCA (our denomination), Hope Community Church (our local supporting church) and Evanston Bible Fellowship (our sending church). For more information on this new church see www.trinitycitychurch.org.
THE ETHOS OF TCC
We express the vision of TCC in our ethos. The ethos of TCC is the theology, mission, and values that are distinctive to our community as we seek to live out the calling of Jesus. Here is an overview of our ethos:
The Theology
The biblical and historical theology of TCC is expressed in the Statement of Faith. There is nothing unique or modern about this theology. In fact, the theology of TCC has been embraced by Christians throughout the last two thousand year history of the church. It is a vintage faith that we affirm, but a faith that is still relevant to our day, our city and to all people.
The Mission
The mission statement of TCC is to glorify Jesus by igniting a movement of the gospel for the joy of our city and all nations. This mission is a concise summary of our purpose as a church that flows out of the theology that we embrace. Our mission is all about Jesus and the fame of his name, his message of God’s grace, and the joy that he offers to those in Saint Paul and to those from every tongue, tribe and nation. It is a big mission from an awesome God!
The Values
The values elaborate on the mission. Our values highlight what Jesus considers most important, and he is clear about what he values in the great commandments and great commission(s). Here are our four values:
- Our passion is to love God. Jesus commands: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38, ESV). Jesus is quoting the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:8) in order to say that God is most important. God created the universe and all humanity to show himself off, and we primarily glorify God by joyfully loving him with our entire lives. Our passion is centered on loving God through Jesus Christ, and through his Son God gets the most glory.
- Our compassion is to love all people. Jesus commands that in addition to the first commandment, there is a second that is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 33:39). Jesus is quoting the Torah again (Leviticus 19:18) in order to say that the vertical command to love God cannot be separated from the horizontal command to love all people. The love of God motivates his church to love every person regardless of their religion, economic status, race and gender. It is a love so radical that it even empowers us to love our enemies. Our focus is on “our city” and “all nations” because all people in both the Twin Cities and around the world matter to God.
- Our obligation is to spread the gospel. Jesus said: “it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:46-48). After Jesus rose from the dead, he commissioned his church to spread the gospel message that God has fully accomplished the forgiveness of sins through the person and work of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God rescued us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and he not only forgives those who turn away from their sins but also restores the entire universe so that we can enjoy our new life with God forever. That is why we are dedicated to starting churches locally, nationally, and globally.
- Our devotion is to follow Jesus Christ. Jesus also commissions: “Go therefore 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 behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). Following Jesus is not only seen by a confession with our lips but also by the transformation of our lives. If we love Jesus then we will be devoted to all his commands, and obeying these commands is a great source of joy. We want to be known as a community that lets love be genuine, abhors injustice and holds fast to what is good, takes delight in honoring one another, is patient in suffering, is constant in prayer, contributes to the needy, and seeks to show hospitality, a community that blesses those who persecute us, rejoices with those who rejoice, and weeps with those who weep, a people that lives in harmony with one another, is not conceited or haughty but associates with the lowly (see Romans 12:9-21). These are some of the marks of those who are devoted to Jesus.
The Name
The name Trinity City Church describes who we are as a community. We are a community with historic convictions about Jesus and holistic compassion for the city.
Trinity was chosen to communicate our convictions as a church. We are a community that embraces historic beliefs about Jesus, which are articulated in ancient creeds like the Nicene Creed. These creeds expressed a biblical belief in the Trinity, which is a belief that there is one God who eternally exists as three persons–the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–and each person is fully God.
City Church communicates our location and our compassion. We are an urban church located between the two downtowns of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. We are passionate about this location, and desire to not only actively proclaim Jesus with our mouths but also compassionately display Jesus with our hearts and hands – though our acts of love and deeds of faith.
What is the point of this blog?
The point of this blog is to give the latest information on a new church around the Grand Avenue area of St. Paul, Minnesota. The motivation of this church plant begins with Jesus telling his followers to spread his gospel (Luke 24:44-49) and make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). Like all Christians, our desire is to be obedient to this call, but we are particularly passionate about fulfilling this command in the Twin Cities. This plant is supported by The Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), the local churches of Evanston Bible Fellowship, and Hope Community Church in Minneapolis. There are also a growing number of people from Evanston and the Twin Cities who are planning to move to St. Paul and help start this church. In addition, an increasing number of churches in the Twin Cities are eager to help with this plant. It has been amazing to see the Lord’s hand in this process, and we hope that you can be blessed by being a part of it too.
Why is it called Between Two Cities?
This blog name has a couple meanings. First, the current proposed location of the plant would place it between downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul. Between Two Cities reflects then the location of the church plant. Second, the name has a biblical meaning. Hebrews 13:14 says, ”here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” In this world, God’s people do not have an everlasting city. No matter the city — Evanston, Chicago, Minneapolis or St. Paul — all these cities will not last forever. However, God’s people have hope in an everlasting city that is to come. This new city “has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23). That is why we are planting this church, so that those in Minneapolis/St. Paul will seek the heavenly city to come, which was purchased by Christ in his death and resurrection for those who follow him. Thus, Between Two Cities not only reflects the location of the plant but also to the everlasting location we are pointing to.
Contact Information
Trinity City Church
1466 Portland Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104
(651) 964-0822
life@trinitycitychurch.org
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Bryan – go get ‘em!
Why the Twin Cities? I believe you feel called by God to go there, but aren’t there a lot of strong, healthy, fabulous churches reaching out to the lost in the Twin Cities already? Just curious.
Claire,
Good question. Much more will be posted on your question later. About three years ago I would have been strongly opposed to planting churches anywhere in North America, until I started studying the future of the Christian church in the U.S. Besides my call being based on the command of Jesus to go and make disciples, both locally and globally, here are a couple of things to consider about the Twin Cities specifically:
1. “The Twin Cities is expected to grow by 1,000,000 people from 2000-2030” (Cityview Report, 2008).
2. “Though many new Christian churches are planted in the Twin Cities (particularly in recent years), the numbers closing their doors leaves the overall growth rate significantly less than current growth rates of cults and world religion worship sites. This low growth rate of churches is also due to the fact that 60% of all new churches in the U.S. die within their first five years” (Cityview Report, 2008).
Main point is if a lot of new churches are not planted and established in the Twin Cities within the next thirty years, then it would mean that cults and other religions will reach more of this growing city than Christians. These are just a couple of MANY reasons why we should plant a lot of churches in the Twin Cities, and not only here but North America and around the world.
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