At Discovery Church we believe that every local church is created by God to be His people within the community. Therefore, we define “purpose” as how God has created and gifted this faith community to serve its surrounding society. Our purpose is “to alleviate suffering through the life of Jesus Christ”.

The Vision of Discovery Church
The “vision” is a forward-view of where Discovery Church is headed. 1 John 2:6b says, “...whoever says he abides in him [Jesus] ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” We view “walking as Jesus did”, in our relationship with God, our families, the body of Christ and the world, as the direction for the church. It is through multiplying people who walk as Jesus did that we will see our community and world change. When we refer to “walking as Jesus did,” we are not just referring to a prayer for future salvation, but rather to the on-going process of discipleship completely transforming one’s worldview. Therefore, a concise vision for Discovery Church would be: “to transform our local and global community through the multiplication of Christ-centered people, families and churches.”

What do we mean by “alleviate suffering?”
All people, regardless of their background, are familiar with suffering in one way or another. By “suffering” we mean the anguish every person feels as the result of their own sin and the sin of others around them. Whether it is helping stop a harmful habit through D.C.’s Celebrate Recovery, feeding the hungry through involvement with a food pantry, or offering contentment through spiritual awakening to the frenzied business professional, we sense God’s call on our church is to alleviate this suffering. Furthermore, the main question we use to judge our church community is this: "If Discovery Church closed our doors tomorrow, would anyone other than our members notice?" Our desire is to strive to be a church that is good for the world - a church that makes the community and the world a better place.

How does D.C. fulfill its “purpose” and “vision"?
Although there are many facets within Discovery Church that act as conduits toward alleviating suffering, we feel these overt “actions” are just the effect of one cause: the life of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus came and lived a sinless life among us, innocently died the death we were due and was raised by God three days later. It is the risen Christ that can be embraced by any person, anywhere; and the suffering caused by sin will be alleviated. So, ultimately, it is the life of Jesus Christ that enables Discovery Church to fulfill its purpose and vision. This is lived out through the three “pillars” that strengthen and guide this community towards growth in the life of Christ.

Three Pillars: Mission, Community and Discipleship
As mentioned, Discovery Church is strengthened by three main pillars: mission, community and discipleship. It is through these three aspects that the life of Christ in us fulfills our purpose and our vision. First, we recognize God’s call to be a missional church in the world. The word missional basically means we view ourselves as being sent to the world, rather than standing against it. Our second pillar, community, illustrates our desire to be both a safe place for the skeptic and a spiritual greenhouse for all to grow in Christ. Our third pillar, discipleship, demonstrates our desire to live out the great commission in Matthew 28:19. Our goal as a community is not to make converts, but disciples, or genuine Christ-followers, who are sent back to the world with the fragrance of Christ. As our community demonstrates this “life” in word and action, we foresee the multiplication of people, new churches and the missional sending of “Christ-followers” to alleviate suffering on a local and global scale. However, in order to achieve this purpose and vision, we must remain connected with each other at the grassroots, or personal level. Discovery Church sees itself as a church made up of small groups, or Life Groups, that also gather centrally on Sunday for corporate worship, community, service and direction. We focus primarily on these Life Groups as the central mode to foster mission, community and discipleship; and, furthermore, we see them as the primary vehicle to bring about change in individual lives in order to fulfill our purpose and vision.