I'm often asked the question - "why another church?". I've contemplated this question for years and the answer may both shock and inspire you. First while many churches may claim to be different from one another we believe that we share a lot in common. We love God, we put Him first and we try to live to please Him.  Therefore where we see ourselves as differing with other churches  is not so much in doctrine, but rather in practice.  During a study of the book of Ephesians we came to believe that verses Ephesians 4:11-12 defined the biblical framework for the church.

It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge  of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ

Ephesians 4:11-12

These verses define both the relational and missional objectives of the church.   The leaders defined here, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers all all called to work together as group of leaders to prepare God's people for works of service.  Through our communal work we hope to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Practical Distinctive # 1 - We affirm the bible's teaching that Christ has given the church a group of leaders who work in unity to prepare God's people for works of services as a means of attaining spiritual maturity.

Removing Obstacles To Effective Ministry
And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people." - Isaiah 57:14
Go through, go through the gates, Clear the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway, Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples. Isaiah 62:10