Our Mission at Southside

Equip and empower people for personal ministry as

Members, Neighbors, and Guides.

Member

Consistent participation in one another’s lives

Neighbor

Missional participation in your community

Guide

Fruitful participation in mutual discipleship

Gospel + Safety + Time = A Church Where Anyone Can Grow

Written by Ray Ortlund Jr.

Gospel + Safety + Time. It’s what everyone needs. A lot of gospel + a lot of safety + a lot of time.

Gospel: Good news for bad people through the finished work of Christ on the cross and the endless power of the Holy Spirit. Multiple exposures. Constant immersion. Wave upon wave of grace and truth, according to the Bible.

Safety: A non-accusing environment. No embarrassing anyone. No cornering anyone. No shaming. But respect and sympathy and listening and understanding, so that people can exhale and open up and unburden their souls. A church environment where no one seeking the Lord has anything to fear.

Time: No pressure. Not even self-imposed pressure. No deadlines on growth. Urgency, but not hurry, because no one changes quickly. A lot of “space” for complicated people to rethink their lives at a deep level. God is patient.

This is what our church must be: gentle environments of gospel + safety + time.

It’s where we’re finally free to grow.