We are a Reformed Word and Sacrament Church. Our mission is to thrive as a growing church characterized by a humble and adoring faith in Jesus Christ, lived out for God’s glory and one another’s joy. The leadership of our church has worked carefully and prayerfully to develop strategies and tactics for carrying out our mission, as well as our “core values.” Here are the things that matter to us, our core values – the 9 “R’s” of GSPC:

1) Reformed Expositional Preaching and Teaching

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
2Ti 4:1-5 ESV

At GSPC, from beginning, to the middle, and end will be saturated with the pure Word of God (2Ti 3:16). Every aspect of who and what we are will flow from and back into our ministry of preaching and teaching. We will endeavor to draw people here with the Word preached and taught, and keep them here with the same. We will be a ministry of clear, vociferous proclamation of Reformed theology and doctrine, upholding the Bible, as interpreted in our Reformed articles of faith, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, with its Larger and Shorter Catechisms. This commitment is essential for the conversion of sinners, encouragement, strengthening, and continual repentance of believers, and our witness to a watching and wondering world.

2) Reverent Worship

“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.”
Ps 29:2 ESV

At GSPC, we will celebrate joyous, reflective, heartfelt worship that is governed by the Word of God, and faithful to our Reformed heritage and convictions. We desire a robust worship that flows from our robust biblical theology, and reflects the best of the Church throughout the centuries, from ancient to today. Our liturgy is gospel-driven, in that it is structured around the themes of the God’s holiness (Isa 6:1-5), man’s sinfulness (Ro 3:23), and the solution in Christ coming to us in the Word preached (Ro 10:13-17) and signified (1Co 11:23-26). This is what we consider to be a “covenantal structure” for worship. At GSPC we love music that reflects the fabric of our congregation and communicates the transcendence and immanence of God, both in terms of style and content. We will sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col 3:16), so as to assure that our music contributes well to the biblical and theological nature of dialogical worship, wherein God speaks to us, and we in turn speak to God and one another. We are likewise committed to the strengthening of families within our flock via the encouragement of what the Puritans called the “family altar,” in which simple, glad worship of the Triune God in the home serves as a time of family bonding and edification.

3) Recognized Heritage

“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
Heb 13:7 ESV

At GSPC, the name “Presbyterian” is here for a reason. While we do not preach a denomination, as such, we want to be clear about our denominational heritage and form of church government. Please visit www.pcanet.org to get acquainted with the history, ministry, and life of the Presbyterian Church in America.

4) Responsible Shepherding

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
1Pe 5:1-4 ESV

At GSPC, we desire the recovery of the primary role of the elder, which is prayerful shepherding of the flock. The Session is not a board of directors under a pastoral CEO, as it were. They are the spiritual rulers and shepherd of the Church. Our Session, or group of Elders, is comprised of our Ruling Elders and Teaching Elder. Their qualifications are high, and can only be met by enabling grace (1Ti 3:1-7). Our goal is to develop and implement a healthy, consistent, personal involvement of our elders with the sheep of our flock. Our elders will place a premium upon biblical counseling, encouragement, and accountability among the sheep, and oversight of faith and practice at GSPC. We enjoy what we call “Mini-flocks,” wherein our Elders and sheep have enjoyable times of Bible study, prayer, and fellowship every first and third Sunday evenings. Each Elder has his own Mini-flock to shepherd and love.

5) Relational Outreach, Evangelism, and Missions

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Mt 28:18-20 ESV

At GSPC, we will emphasize the power of the gospel message in the conversion and discipling of souls (Ro 1:16). However, we will be relational, rather than programmatic in our approach – relational in our evangelism, relational as the Diaconate reaches out in help and mercy, and relational involvement with the missionaries with whom we partner.

6) Realized Fellowship

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me..”
Jn 17:20-23 ESV

At GSPC, we prize and protect our koinonia, or fellowship with one another in the Lord, knowing that it far transcends coffee and donuts (though, we are know to enjoy both coffee and donuts before and after our worship service); it is a testimony among us and to the world that the Father sent the Son. As one old gospel song says, “They will know we are Christians by our love” (1Jn 4:7-11). So, we will be given over to the cultivation of relationships within the body. Fellowship and community will be more than buzzwords; they will be our reality, as we grow in other-centered love for one another.

7) Replicating Church

“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.”
Titus 1:5 ESV

At GSPC, our commitment, should the Lord give us numerical growth, is to planting like-minded churches. We take this cue from the Apostle Paul, who was the pioneer church-planter. Part of our philosophy of ministry is that there would never be a Sunday upon which the Pastor and Session of our church cannot stand before the congregation, and name every member under our care, for if we do not know your names, we will not know your hearts (Php 1:7). Should the Lord be pleased to bless us with numerical growth, we will prayerfully discern when the time is drawing nigh for us to begin the process of establishing the leadership and support for guiding the startup of another church possessed of hopes and dreams similar to ours.

8) Refreshment to Our Presbytery

“…they gave the right hand of fellowship…”
Gal 2:9

Our denomination consists of Presbyteries all across the United States. Presbyteries are made up of the Teaching and Ruling Elders within a given region where the PCA has churches. GSPC is a member of the Nashville Presbytery of the PCA. This form of government provides accountability and support among the churches. As such, it is our privilege and priority to be a source of support and encouragement to our Presbytery and sister churches, as we seek to be a witness for Christ in Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky. Our Elders are involved at various levels of service and leadership in the affairs of our Presbytery.

9) Relentless Prayer

“…pray without ceasing”
1Th 5:17 ESV

At GSPC, we believe in the absolute sovereignty of God over all
(Isa 46:8-10). Therefore, we will more and more become a people of fervent prayer. Joyous, submissive, and believing prayer will permeate our worship services and life together, both privately
(Eph 6:18) and corporately (Acts 2:42).