Our Vision for Beargrass Christian Church
We at Beargrass Christian Church are Disciples of Christ, called to live out our mission to “Worship with hope, grow with love, and serve with a passion for justice.” In that spirit, we strive to be a loving, welcoming faith community where all people experience meaningful, engaging worship and fellowship, grow together on our faith journeys, and glorify God through meaningful service to others.
The next few years will be an exciting time of growth and new ways to live out our mission that remain deeply rooted in the values of love and compassion that have guided our congregation for over 200 years. We offer the following “Future Story” as the unifying vision for Beargrass to guide our ministries, decisions, and priorities over the next few years. Imagine a future where we can soon say we…
WORSHIP WITH HOPE
The Beargrass Experience has continued to grow into one where warmth and welcome is felt by everyone on our campus. Without exception, each person feels at home from the moment of arrival to engage in hope-filled worship and find fellowship at an open table that reflects Christ’s love for everyone. Our facilities and our interactions more fully express our sincere desire to open our doors as widely as God’s own welcome.
Beargrass expands our imagination to worship with hope by discerning intentionally about how we welcome all people to find belonging in our church family. The joy of youth and children filling the Sanctuary reminds us of the invitation that God has for our bright future. Reflecting the growing diversity in our wider community, our weekly gathering is a place to find a safe and sacred sanctuary where people of all ages, backgrounds, beliefs, races, nationalities, orientation, and identities find affirmation and connection across our differences.
Beargrass’s growing worship services offer authentic, creative, holistic encounters where God’s love is evident each week. Meaningful experiences use different senses and styles to increase our engagement in worship through uplifting music and the inspiring ways we tell the stories of God’s people. Our weekly gatherings remain rooted in the common ground we find at Christ’s table, where all people can discover a loving community alongside one another and with God.
GROW WITH LOVE
Beargrass is a church thriving through God’s love, as evidenced in the abundant ways that we have grown together. We seek to:
- Grow in our love for Jesus Christ and one another.
- Grow in our faith as children of God.
- Grow in our understanding of God’s hope for our world through worship that seeks both to comfort and to challenge us.
- Grow in our opportunities for Biblical studies that compel us to think critically and small groups that compel us to action.
- Grow in our broadened sense of fellowship, with intergenerational gatherings that help us build deeper connections with one another on Sundays and in our daily lives.
- Grow in our imagination to utilize the Beargrass campus as a gathering place to bring people together from the wider community to find common ground on vital issues facing Louisville and beyond.
- Grow in our generosity as faithful, committed stewards of our resources, utilizing them most effectively to build our community, live out our mission, and help others in need.
- Grow our Beargrass family by sharing the Disciples story, inviting others to experience the joys of worship, fellowship, community, and service to others.
All of these opportunities grow us closer together and strengthen us to turn outward as God’s people rooted in faith, hope, and love.
SERVE WITH A PASSION FOR JUSTICE
At Beargrass, mission and outreach remain bedrocks of our faith community. We are led by love, compassion, and kindness – following the example and commands of Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves and to serve the “least of these.”
Our ever-growing and hands-on service opportunities reach a wide spectrum of individuals in need, including the thirsty, hungry, unhoused, impoverished, ill, refugees, grief-stricken, children, elderly, and those affected by disaster, violence, domestic abuse, substance abuse, inequity, and injustice. We prioritize our resources and our time to ensure that our generosity matches our values with meaningful service opportunities for all ages.
Beargrass is called to be a voice for hope, justice, and equality for all people. Through education, study, discussion, discernment, and prayer, we build vital partnerships for reconciliation stemming from systemic inequality and the ways that keep this earth from becoming more like it already is in heaven. Our commitment as a Green Chalice congregation challenges us to broaden our efforts to honor God’s creation and our impact to ensure its beauty endures for generations to come.
By reaching out beyond our walls, around the block, and across the world, Beargrass shines as a beacon of God’s light and hope, locally and globally.
As we worship, grow, and serve together, Beargrass is a place where everyone is invited to live out our mission with humility and grace for one another. We know that achieving this Vision will not be easy, but it will invite each of us to find new ways to meaningfully engage the work that happens here. God is calling us to a bright future with one another, where we can all say that in our time and our generation, we did all that we could to “Worship with hope, grow with love, and serve with a passion for justice.”