Our Vision

A place to discover God’s grace and peace.

  • A place for you to discover God’s grace and peace.

  • We help people discover God’s grace and peace in three interconnected ways:

    GOSPEL: Helping people discover and apply God’s good news of grace and peace through Jesus Christ.

    COMMUNITY: Being a people who encourage and extend grace and peace to their neighbors.

    MISSION: Acting as God’s agents of grace and peace in this world.

  • G+P will strive to live out Gospel, Community, and Mission according to these core values:

    Delighting in the Gospel

    By preaching that delight comes from God’s gracious work of salvation through Christ instead of creating delight for yourself in the “American Suburban Story”.

    By creating an environment of enjoying in time together and having fun.

    By inhabiting God’s peace as an intentionally multi-cultural church.

    Worshipping in Word, Sacrament, and Spirit

    By gathering around the richness of the Scriptures.

    By allowing the mystery of God’s present work in the world to be experienced.

    By worshiping in ways that are beautiful and emotionally expressive.

    By inviting diverse people and cultures into the worship service.

    Belonging with One Another

    By warmly welcoming all kinds of people in radical hospitality.

    By helping people discover a deep sense of belonging to Christ and to one another.

    By loving people in the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit.

    Connecting in our Community

    By initiating in relationship to reach across socio-economic, cultural, and racial lines.

    By partnering with other churches and groups that are likewise seeking the good of Chattanooga.

    Sacrificing for our World

    By embracing its particular beauty and brokenness.

    By affirming the positive aspects of culture.

    By sacrificially serving the people and places of Chattanooga.

Our Beliefs

Grace+Peace Church is Christ-centered, gospel saturated, winsomely reformed, and passionately missional.

When someone asks what Grace+Peace Church believes, there are often different concerns behind the question. Some want to know about our theological distinctives. Others desire greater clarity about what it means to be a Presbyterian Church. Still others are concerned about engagement with the world through evangelism and mercy. While the summary below may not answer every question, it provides a helpful launching pad for further exploration!

Grace+Peace’s faith and life are anchored in the historic Christian faith as it is revealed in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Together with Christians throughout the ages we affirm the historic Nicene and Apostle’s Creeds and such foundational truths as:

  • We believe the Bible is God's Word, completely trustworthy and without error. It is the ultimate authority for all that we believe and practice in life.

  • The Bible teaches that one real and personal God exists eternally in three persons: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

  • The Bible teaches that human beings are created gloriously in the image of their creator to enjoy God and live out his purposes in this world. Nevertheless, the human race, on account of our first parents, has become estranged from its creator through the overwhelming power of sin. Left to ourselves, we would not fulfill the magnificent purpose for which we were created, but instead perish forever.

  • Out of God’s sheer love and grace, God the Son took on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ in order to deliver humanity from its lost condition. In so doing, Jesus lived a sinless life, obeyed God's law completely, suffered and died on the cross of Calvary, and then was physically raised on the third day. He did all this to accomplish the salvation of his people.

  • Each person can receive this salvation by renouncing their former manner of life and believing in Jesus Christ alone. This is not something we earn (by good works), but itself a gift of God’s grace. An obedient life (of good works) is lived in the power of the Holy Spirit and evidence of the salvation we have freely received by grace.

  • We use this term to refer to best news given by God to the world through Jesus Christ. It is the good news that God has sent Jesus to rescue us from our sins and make us his children. If you’d like to see more of the story, we recommend you watch this short video.

 
 

  • The church is the people of God from all ages, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, also called "the body of Christ." Christians join together in local communities or churches to worship their Lord, to grow together in his likeness, and to enjoy serving him together.

  • Presbyterians are a denomination with deep historic roots in Chattanooga. We stress God’s kingship over all creation, Jesus’ perfect work of salvation, and an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. "Presbyterian" simply refers to the way the church is governed. In Greek, the word "presbeuteros" means elder or shepherd (Titus 1:5; 1 Peter 5:1; 1 Timothy 5:17; Acts 15; Acts 16:4; Acts 20:17; James 5:14). Our pastor is held accountable by other pastors in the region who make up a presbytery.

    Finally, as a member of the Presbyterian Church in America, we trace our theological and ecclesiastical roots to the Reformed tradition of Protestantism. The Westminster Standards is a wonderful expression of the Bible’s core teachings and has served as the doctrinal standard for Presbyterians since the seventeenth century.