Our Mission

Loving people to Jesus.
Launching passionate people to make our world different.

Pantano Christian Church’s Core Values - S.T.E.P.

STEP is an acronym that helps to describe Pantano Christian Church’s four core values. Everyone at PCC is encouraged to Take the STEP by embracing all four of our core values in our lives and finding our unique place in the Kingdom of God. STEP are the values through which we express our relationship with God and engage our world. The Pantano Pathway provides places to belong, grow and serve that help us to live out these core values and discover our passions to make our world different.

S_{haring Life Together}

T_{ransforming into Christ’s likeness}

E_{ntrusted with time, talents and treasures}

P_{articipating in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission}

Our Vision - Where We Are Going

We see God leading Pantano Christian Church to fulfill the mandate of doing Kingdom business and expansion in 6 concrete ways.

1. Glocal (global & local) Church Planting Multiplication Movements

• We see Pantano Christian Church as a catalyst for starting churches that plant churches resulting in a movement of God in our community and the peoples of the world.
• The primary, though not exclusive, vehicle or tool that God uses to establish and grow his Kingdom in the world is through the church, which is God’s people. We are first and foremost committed to the church (in all its forms) as the way the Kingdom expands and is built.
• Planting churches will require great sacrifice. We will constantly be sending our very best paid and non-paid servants and thus we’ll be in perpetual grief and celebration.
• We are about multiplication of churches and not just addition. Every new church will have in their “DNA” starting churches quickly - usually much faster than most think possible. If we are Kingdom focused, multiplication is the natural result. When we fail to see multiplication occurring, we can assume that we have somehow limited God and his Kingdom of its natural power.
• Healthy churches, with multiplication as their “DNA,” will create movements that transform local communities, cultures, people groups and the world.
• Church planting movements are glocal. This is formed from two words - Global and Local. The Kingdom is both global and local and so is our focus. Church planting movements are trans-cultural.

2. A Launching Church

We see Pantano Christian Church as a launching pad that sends Kingdom people taking Jesus to their world. We see PCC having a church culture that is actively and aggressively helping each of us fulfill our role in the Kingdom of God. This culture helps us discover God’s purpose for our lives and our unique calling. The location of ministry and service is the world – wherever God leads us to fulfill our calling.

3. Spiritual Formation

We see Pantano Christian Church being a people that are deeply connected to God and experiencing transformation on a daily basis. Spiritual formation is the process of Jesus being formed in us and God forming us to be like Jesus. It is “spiritual” because it is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit. It is “formation” because it is a process of forming Christ in our lives. It is what the word trans-formation is all about.

Spiritual formation is not a program. Jesus challenges us to abide, remain and make our home in him (Jn. 15:1-8 ). It is from that abiding that we bear spiritual fruit. Spiritual formation occurs as we use spiritual “tools” that lead us into the transforming presence of God and connect with the transforming power of God. The tools are paths to God to help us deepen our intimacy with him. The focus is not primarily on knowledge about God but on continual experience with God.

4. Strategic Leadership Development

We see Pantano Christian Church aggressively developing and multiplying Kingdom people who will lead church planting movements and bring the Kingdom to their world. The intentional, strategic and focused development of leaders is essential to accomplish what God is calling us to become and accomplish. Kingdom building requires godly leaders and the growth of the Kingdom is dependent on an increasing supply of leaders.

5. Community Transformation

We see God’s love and justice transforming communities. The expansion of the Kingdom will make the world different. We approach this not in a piece-meal manner, but in a targeted and strategic way. We will make the world different by targeting specific communities and allowing God to bring transformation.

6. A Bridge to the Emerging Culture

We see Pantano Christian Church ever adapting to be relevant to our changing culture while maintaining our ancient hope and message found in Jesus Christ. We are passionate to bring the Kingdom to the emerging culture among us.

Our world IS changing and at an unstoppable, accelerating pace. We are moving from a “modern” to a “postmodern” world. While PCC is now and will continue for the near future to be a “modern” church, a new world is coming. We must prepare to engage that new world. We will choose our future and that future is to have a relevant influence on the emerging culture as we love others to Jesus and build the Kingdom.

Our Confident Hope

We believe we’ll see the Kingdom expand and be built in our community and in the world. The gates of hell CANNOT prevail against us. The world is begging for transformation and we know that Jesus can break the powers that enslave people and rob them of life. We dare to trust God to make our world different.

Our Belief and Commitment

For us, Pantano Christian Church, the journey of following Jesus is a matter of both the head and the heart. Below we list some key propositions that with our mind help to define our faith, but even these are utterly incomplete. We also must add the involvement of the heart which adds the dimension of a bold, life-long, authentic pursuit of God as revealed to us in the life and teaching of Jesus. These propositions of faith describe the essential things we believe in and are committed to as we seek to follow Jesus and to experience a deep and meaningful relationship with God.

Therefore, we believe in and are committed with our whole being to…

• The one eternal God who is love, revealed in three persons as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14).

• Jesus, who is the “Christ, the son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), who died for our sins, rose again and will return one day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Titus 2:13).

• God, who is always present in all believers through the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is active in transforming us into Christlikeness and empowering us to make our world different (John 14:16-17; 1 Peter 4:10).

• The Bible as God’s primary message or word to us, a guide for living and our trustworthy and final authority (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

• A loving God who wants to save every person from the power of sin so that we may be free to do what is good. Salvation is a gift from God through Christ which allows us to be in deep relationship with our Father, now and forever. (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:4-8).

• God, who is bringing about a spiritual revolution and wants to transform our lives and our world as his kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 4:17; 6:10).

Guiding Principles

• Following Jesus is simply the authentic daily process of loving God with all our being and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
• Ministry extends to every activity of a believer’s life.
• Family is the primary ministry of the believer.
• Ministry consists primarily by loving people in practical ways, by serving, by doing good works, by experiencing God’s grace, mercy, acceptance, and healing, and by equipping people to do the same.
• Life-ministry happens best in relational communities that are small enough for each person to be known and celebrated.
• Loving people to Jesus (discipleship) is living life with people while helping them move positively toward God, not just covering a curriculum or being involved in “church programming.”
• People at every level of faith and doubt are welcome in our community life and community property.
• Leaders are primarily servants who influence, encourage, equip, and empower people to use their passions and gifts to serve others.
• Leaders are continually developed with emphasis given to unique gifts, a servant’s heart, practical leadership and ministry skills, a compelling life of passion and integrity, and depth of relationship with God.
• A ministry approach that is permission granting and entrepreneurial - that leans toward freedom, not control; risk, not safety; individuality and diversity, not sameness.
• Leadership structures connect people based primarily on relationship and influence rather than departmental or arbitrary assignment.
• Our time, energy, and resources are focused on recognizing and joining in the movements of God.
• Large group meetings are best utilized for enhancing the experience of our relational communities and connecting with seeking people.
• We embrace changing methods, structures, and language in order to connect with and positively influence our culture.