Core Values

Trinitarian Worship

We are committed to passionate worship as a way of life and as an expression of our bring in Christian community. Everything good in our life flows out of an authentic worship experience with the Triune God.

We are committed to being a worshipful people who find our greatest joy in God Himself and to expressing that joy freely. In our congregational worship, we seek to exalt God, not our personal preferences; to center upon Jesus Christ, not ourselves; and to be empowered by the Spirit, not driven by our desire for personal meaning.

Adventurous Faith

We are committed to being a missional church that takes great risks, without fear of failure, for the advancement of the fame of Jesus Christ. We seek to develop emerging leaders in our church body and to cultivate and resource their God-given ideas. At Lancaster Evangelical Free Church, we believe that life and ministry are meant to be experienced as a faith adventure with God.

We are committed to being a missionary people, strategic in establishing healthy, reproducing churches in North America and most especially, among those who have never heard the Gospel. These people are our highest evangelistic priority; we are intentional in getting this done. We thrive upon the vision of the glory of God among all peoples and their full enjoyment of Him.

Investing Outside Ourselves

We are committed to providing the vital basic ministries for our church life together, but we will invest most of our ministry resources, energy, and people in outreach to the world. As a church, we want to experience how much more blessed it is to give than to receive. Our focus is outward with a long-term perspective for what God might do through us.

We are committed to evangelical ecumenism, that is, fellowship and ministry partnership with with evangelicals from various perspectives. Viewing collaboration as stimulating and productive, we endeavor together to creatively engage and transform the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our congregation affirms each member's God-given calling for the furtherance of His glory throughout society and culture.

Earnest Discipleship

We are committed to develop fully as genuine and earnest disciples of Jesus Christ, living just as He has taught us. Determined to grow up into the fullness of Christ and be worthy of our high calling, we graciously encourage one another to excel still more in our spiritual disciplines and in our disciple-making.

We are committed to give up our lives and resources; and have resolved up front that this will mean great sacrifice and suffering as we fulfill our calling, but also the greatest of joys. As a church family, we uphold and encourage one another to persevere in grace for the glory of Christ in His Church. With a resilient faith, we share with one another the peace and hope of the Kingdom of God.

Genuine Community

We are committed to maintaining healthy, godly relationships in our church and maintaining spiritual and practical unity as we work together as a team to accomplish Christ's mission. We take pleasure in, and benefit from, the diversity of our life backgrounds, perspectives, and spiritual gifts. All members are encouraged to volunteer and to initiate ministry opportunities and solutions to problems.

We are committed to making genuine communitly work. Relationships are both challenging and rewarding; and we welcome the effort that is required to live together in peace, honesty, love, and healing. We seek to exhibit the grace and forgiveness of God in our interactions with, and service to, one another and the world.

Satisfying Theology

We are committed to deep and life-long learning of the Scripture, believing that the renewed mind is the quickest, surest, and truest way to engage the heart, affect the soul, and equip for ministry. And so, we are committed to the expository preaching of the Bible and teaching with direct application to our lives. Our real desire is to know God and be fully satisfied in Him.

We are committed to loving God with all our minds and growing theologically into a fuller understanding of God Himself. We believe that church history and theology can and should shape us as Christians and inform our practice as a church. Lancaster Evangelical Free Church is dedicated to reformed theology, holding to the doctrines of grace dearly and promoting them graciously and winsomely for a more glorious and powerful Church.