Northside Drive Baptist Church

Our Vision

We believe God calls us into Christian community with the challenge to discern and act upon the ongoing revelation of God in our time and place.

We live out this vision by being a church rooted deeply in liturgical traditions, where intergenerational friendships are valued, all members can be known by name, open-mindedness is the basis of spiritual formation, resources are shared generously, and where hands-on service is crucial to our own discipleship and the mission of Christ in the world.

We celebrate this vision through the intimacy of a loving congregation, the strength of Baptist freedoms, and the reach of an ecumenical and inclusive spirit.

Our Church Covenant

United in the faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, revealed in history, disclosed in the Scriptures, and experienced in human life, we do solemnly make this covenant together:

* We will proclaim the Good news of Jesus Christ and God's call to all people to repentance and faith, to reconciliation and hope, to social and economic justice;

* We affirm God's call to laity and clergy to be servant ministers following the model of our Servant Lord and to the full partnership of all Christians in the mission and ministry of God's church;

* We will accept responsibility under the authority and guidance of Jesus Christ to shape our church's life and mission, call our own leadership, and ordain any Christian whom we perceive as gifted for ministry;

* We will respect the freedom of individuals to read and interpret the Scriptures as they are led by the Holy Spirit within the family of faith;

* We will offer and promote Christian education for all ages, characterized by reverence for biblical authority and respect for open inquiry, with our goal being the development of a mature and thoughtful faith in the hearts and minds of God's people;

* We will be a church of missions, recognizing the infinite worth of every person and believing that Christ has called us to active involvement on behalf of God's creation;

* We acknowledge that we are part of the universal church of Jesus Christ and affirm professions of faith made in other Christian traditions by those seeking to join our congregation;

* We pray, through God's grace, to be a church where all God's children will experience their inalienable rights given by God: To be loved, to know they are loved, and to learn to love others as God has loved them.

May our lives be filled with God's hope and presence as we affirm this covenant through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen

Adopted 8/22/1993

Our Slogan

inclusive. inquiring. involved.^TM

By Rev. Mike Gregg

Ever since the shhhhhh… Methodists… 'borrowed' our slogan, 'Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors,' it has been difficult to tell people in an easy phrase who we are at Northside Drive Baptist Church. We are so much more than Christian or Baptist. In a nutshell, we are place where you will find...

• A smaller, more personal church where you can be known

• Opportunities for spiritual growth and open-minded inquiry

• Hands-on service that supports our community and the world

• A tradition of liturgical worship

• Close friendships across generations

• A welcoming and loving spirit

But as you can tell, that is way more than we could put on the cover of a worship bulletin or the top right hand corner of a website. So as the Marketing Committee was creating a new brochure for the church, three words came to the surface as to the identity of Northside Drive Baptist Church.

First, we are inclusive. This has been a word used at Northside Drive for decades and describes who we are as a people of God. We believe that the wide arms of God surround people of different ethnicities, races, denominations, religions, cultures, genders, and orientations. And believe it or not, that is drastically different than how many people and churches view and interact with God. Northside Drive sees God as a God of love, life and inclusiveness.

Second, we are inquiring. The word inquiring describes who we are as intellectual beings. We are a church that seeks to educate and be educated on theology, the Bible, and the world. We are free to come to God and to each other with the complex questions of life without the fear of being laughed at or turned away. We are a church who lives out our questions in community and in grace.

Third, we are involved. From the Food Bank, to the Moncrief Center, to Habitat for Humanity, to Guatemala and beyond, we are a church that is involved in our community and in our world. We give a strong percentage of our budget to missions programs and we have many volunteers intimately connected to organizations throughout Atlanta and the world. Northside Drive is a very involved church.

As you notice our slogan 'inclusive. inquiring. involved.' on our publications and on our website, it is my hope that you will get a sense of how Northside Drive Baptist Church is well-rounded in its purpose to live out the intentions of God in Atlanta and the world.