Good question. One answer is that our heritage, our particular challenges, our core values, our beliefs and our dreams have led us in some distinctive directions.
The other simple honest answer is that we aren't very different from any local Christian congregation. We seek faithfully to live up to our motto: “Loving God. . . Loving Others.”
We are part of the Reformation Movement of the Church of God (Anderson, IN) – a big name for a group of people who seek to recapture the experience of the New Testament Church.
Because we seek to return to New Testament understanding of what it means to be the people of God, we place a high premium on Bible Study. You’ll find our Bible Studies are not surface studies, aimed at light “devotional” readings of the Bible, but are in-depth, literary and historical minings of the text. Anyone with a hunger to discover “what the Bible teaches” will find a home with Athens Church of God. Since “the Bible is our rule of faith” our loyalty is to the Bible rather than to human creeds. We believe that God gave the Bible to form us into the people He wants us to be.
Who does God want us to be? We believe that God’s original goal for creation was to create a people who would belong exclusively to Him, and who would reflect His character here on earth. Belonging exclusively to God – that’s what is meant, at least in part, by “being holy.” We are in the world, but we are separate from the world. That doesn’t mean that we necessarily dress differently or behave in odd ways; it does, however, mean that our goals and dreams are governed by our desire to please God in all things.
An important part of pleasing God is to live in unity with all of God’s people. Division within the Body of Christ is the result of sin. The Church of God works in any way possible to proclaim, to celebrate and to demonstrate what binds all of God’s children together: the love of God as seen in Christ Jesus.
Does that mean that we all believe exactly the same? No. Because we realize that not everyone comes to the church with the same background and life-experience, we provide a church roomy enough for Christians with conscientious differences in practice and belief to live together in love. We encourage debate and discussion, sometimes coming to the same conclusion, sometimes agreeing to disagree – but whether we agree or disagree, we commit to always living gracefully with one another.
For example, while we believe in exercising Spiritual Gifts, we do not speak in “tongues.” We believe that God gives gifts to all of His children for the good of the whole body (I Corinthians 12:7). We believe that God gave a gift of communication to the early church to aid in proclaiming the gospel to people who spoke in languages unknown to the evangelists (Acts 2:4, 8). That gift of communication is called "tongues" in the New Testament. We therefore reject the modern practice called “speaking in tongues” as a prayer language, etc. but we don’t allow that to separate us from believers who do embrace it.
So, we practice radical welcome. For us that means living as a community the way Jesus lived in his life and ministry. Above all, we welcome everyone in spiritual and practical ways.
Spiritually, we welcome people by struggling to live beyond the categories that the world uses to divide humanity: race, citizenship, religious identity, age, class, etc. We aren't perfect at this; we make a conscious effort to build a congregation that looks more like the world we live in. We find it both a joy and a challenge to learn to live together.
Practically, we welcome people by thinking through the usual physical and emotional obstacles that our first-time guests may have. We have clear, up-to-date signs. Greeters and ushers who are outside the doors at service times to offer a hand of welcome. User-friendly church bulletins to help everyone actively participate in our worship experience. Sunday School and other Christian Education activities and fellowship times that help create vital relationships.
We gather at an open table. At the heart of things, our life centers on our worship of God. At the Lord’s Supper, we make a consistent and risky invitation: all who claim the name of Christ, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey, can share in communion with us.
We are reinventing the way we "do" church. Looking at our history here in Limestone County, our positives and our negatives, we concluded that we had to grow or go. We recently began to re-think the ways a church offers what it is, connects with others, manages its business affairs and runs its programs. It is an ongoing process: We learn from others along the way, innovate when necessary and we are constantly evaluating.
Among the things we have learned and now practice:
We are a welcoming fellowship. We are not a club of like-minded, self-focused members. We do care for one another, of course – just hang around for a little while, and that will be obvious! But we focus our work toward those who need to hear the Good News of God in Christ.
We strive for a diversity of worship styles. Our Sunday Morning worship hour is the most important hour of the week and it's when most of the family is together in one place. Therefore, our services run the gamut from traditional to innovative, often blending ancient and contemporary forms in the same service. Not everyone responds spiritually the same way; we respect that and work creatively to lead all in worship.
Excellence Every Sunday. We see every Sunday is a little Easter, so we put out our best offerings—worship, education, hospitality—every Sunday of the year. Your first Sunday will be the best we can make it.
The best way to see what we are is to test whether we are living what we believe. Come and see. Or if you live far away, keep up with us on this site.