The Way We Were - Steve Thurman

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The Way We Were:
FBC's Vision and Values from its Earliest Days

Steve Hixon has asked me to reflect back on the vision and values of Fellowship Bible Church when I was invited by nine couples to help plant it in 1986.

First, a history lesson. In 1986 I was in the most enviable of positions: My wife and I had four choices that lay before us in terms of church planting. Number one, a substantial group of people wanted us to launch a new church in Coronado/San Diego ... number two, I was asked by Dr. Gene Getz to consider planting a church in Raleigh, North Carolina ... number three, we received two letters from New Zealand offering us residency if we would plant and pastor a church in the North Island ... and number four, we received a phone call from a group of people we did not know in the Rockies, Colorado Springs.

From all those great options, why would we choose Colorado Springs and a rag-tag group of couples who didn't know the first thing about church planting The answer is simple: The vision and the values of those good people were identical with mine, with what I believed to be Scriptural values, and I was thrilled (and privileged) to join their "team" and work alongside them.

I loved (and still love) the vision of FBC ... To reach the lost, to love them, to genuinely care for them, to build friendships with them, to welcome then into our midst, and to worship the Lord in a dynamic environment, with a view to evangelism, teaching, preaching, and discipleship. We chose as our text for our mission, Colossians 1:28 -- "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ" -- a text that encourages us to be both evangelists and teacher/disciplers. In fact, truth is, the VERY FIRST class we offered at FBC was an eight-week series on Lifestyle and Friendship Evangelism, led by two men who still attend FBC!

What did the Bible say that our church should be about? As we studied the Scriptures, we discovered and stated our four Scripture-mandated purposes in this way: FBC exists...
to CELEBRATE the greatness of God in worship (our choice: contemporary!)
to CULTIVATE Christian growth and maturity through the teaching of the word of God (our choice: in discipleship, in small groups, in preaching, in our young people's programs)
to CARE for the needs of one another (our choice: in a relevant, humble, authentic way!)
to COMMUNICATE the simple, beautiful message of the Cross of Christ to the lost (our choice: through friendships and missions outreach, emphasizing grace).

And so, that was our vision, our heart, but we also had some values or distinctives that we were willing to die for:
1) The GRACE of God would be at the core of our ministry, without compromise,
2) Contemporary, creative, dynamic, enthusiastic worship would be our "style",
3) Every-member ministry (releasing, encouraging, equipping EVERYONE to share in the joy and the load of the work),
4) a genuine, genuine, genuine heart for the lost, especially modeled and practiced via our small group program,
5) a commitment to our young people (the first two full-time pastors we hired were for Promiseland and Youth),
6) authentic, honest, humble Christian living, to be modeled especially by our leadership, and
7) a full-on, sold-out commitment to missions.

I remember well my first two years planting and pastoring FBC: full devotion given to establishing multiple leadership on an elder board, teaching evangelism, establishing our small groups program, building up our worship and missions ministries, and spending time with anyone and everyone who was serving our children and teenagers. It was loads of work, but also loads of fun, and totally fulfilling because I was on a TEAM that believed in everything we were doing. And boy, did God choose to bless our efforts!!

I love Fellowship Bible Church, and I honor the good elders and staff who lead our church with excellence. They have taken over from me and brought their own unique and wonderful personalities to FBC, with a passion, wisdom, and creativity far beyond what I was able to give ... but they still hold to the God-blessed vision and core values of those wonderful, early days.

May God bless the current leadership of Fellowship Bible Church and all of you who choose to serve our Savior.

sincerely,
Steve Thurman

(Steve was the founding pastor of FBC; he is now serving in New Zealand through TeamKiwi, a ministry devoted to starting a new theological training center in Auckland.)