A Church on the Way

To be “A Church on the Way” is to be, first and foremost, a church founded on Jesus Christ, who is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6).

Second, to be "A Church on the Way" is to be a church grounded in the teachings and life of the apostolic church. “The Way” is the earliest known name for the church (Acts 9:2), and so to be “A Church on the Way” is to say that we will always place the highest value for our teaching and life together upon the New Testament and its witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

Third, to be "A Church on the Way" is to recognize that we are all people on a journey. We have been set free from sin and death, but we have not yet arrived at the promised land of resurrection and eternal life. People on a journey know where they're coming from and where they're headed, but most journeys don't take a straight line from point A to point B. Our journeys are all unique, and yet, for people who are "on the Way," there are common road markers in their journeys. People on the Way have passed through the waters of baptism, are led by the Holy Spirit through the wilderness of this world, are fed by the body and blood of Christ, and look forward to that great day when, like our Lord, our bodies will rise from the grave never to die again.

Fourth, to be "A Church on the Way" is to seek to embody a crucifom life after the pattern of our Jesus Christ. The Old Testament prophets spoke of the way of the Lord (e.g, Isa 40:3). In the Gospel of Mark, the way of the Lord has become the way of the cross (see Mark 8:22-10:52, the Way-section in Mark's Gospel). The book of Daniel says of the one like a Son of Man that "all peoples, languages, and nations should serve him" (Dan 7:14), and yet Jesus said, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Because the way of the Lord is now the way of the cross, to be "A Church on the Way" is to recognize that the way up is the way down, the way around is the way through, and the way to Easter runs right through Good Friday.