MISSION STATEMENT

We exist to introduce people to the life-changing love of God and to develop them into fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

VISION STATEMENT

We intend to make a positive impact in our community by creating a ministry in which everyone is made welcome. Our goal is to create an atmosphere where both individuals and families can grow into spiritual maturity so they are equipped to find success in every arena of life; and thereby, fulfill God’s unique plan for their lives.

We will make every effort to make a positive impact upon our community and our world through our missionary efforts. We will reach out to help meet the needs of people locally, as well as, reach out to the nations to help people discover the life-changing love of Jesus Christ and the true peace of heart and mind that only He can give.

OUR PASTORS

Dr. Michael and Ann Elliott are the founders and pastors of Regency Christian Center. The Elliott’s are also the founders and directors of Touching Africa Ministries which is presently ministering in Ethiopia.

Michael is deeply committed to the Word of God believing it to be relevant and authoritative in addressing every area of life. He desires to bring every area of the church, its structure, and its expression of ministry, in line with the Scriptures. Michael encourages every member of the church to order their lives according to the teachings of the Word of God. He presents the Scriptures in a manner that is easy to understand and practical to live out. Michael is the author of three books; Redemption, The Foundation of Worship; My Daily Appointment; and Laying the Foundation.

Ann is our worship leader; as well as, the administrator of the church. Ann’s passionate pursuit of God is contagious and is reflected in how she leads the church in offering our praise and worship to God. Ann believes that worship is far more than just an activity of the worship service; she sees worship as the lifestyle of every believer enabling them to become disciplined followers of Jesus. Ann’s heartbeat is to lead people into the very presence of God for an encounter with Him that will impact their hearts and lives.

Michael and Ann enjoy a unique ministry expression as a team. In recent years, their ministry has taken them to China, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Greece, Israel, Tanzania and Ethiopia. As directors and leaders of Touching Africa Ministries, Michael and Ann lead teams each year to work in various communities across Ethiopia.

Please visit http://www.touchingafricaministries.org to learn more about their work in Ethiopia.

WHO WE ARE

Regency Christian Center is a non-denominational church focused on helping people live life at its highest level; that being, a life of significance. We are a Biblically functioning community of Spirit-filled believers in Jesus Christ that have joined together for the express purpose of worshiping God and magnifying Him in our lifestyle. Faith in God and the application of His Word characterize our daily living. We enjoy a rich family relationship as we relate to one another in the bonds of Christ’s love. Regency Christian Center is a church where you can grow in your knowledge of God and become spiritually equipped to accomplish your life’s purpose.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

STATEMENT OF FAITH

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

We believe that there is one God eternally existent in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

We believe that for the salvation of the lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, unites man to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth, dwells within the regenerate and produces in them the Fruit of the Spirit which enables them to grow in sanctification.

We believe that the baptism of Jesus in the Holy Spirit is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ and is received by faith upon request. The Holy Spirit empowers believers to live an overcoming and victorious life. He bestows and releases the Gifts of the Holy Spirit for the edification of the Body of Christ and the evangelization of the world.

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved unto the resurrection of life and the lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe that God has established marriage as a lifelong, exclusive relationship between one biological man and one biological woman and that all intimate sexual activity outside the marriage relationship, whether heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual conduct, or otherwise, is immoral and therefore sin (Genesis 2:24-25; Exodus 20:14, 17, 22:19; Leviticus 18:22-23, 20:13; 15-16; Matthew 15:18-20; Matthew 19:4-6, 9; Romans 1:18-31; I Corinthians 6:9-10, 15-20; I Timothy 1:8-11; Jude 7).

We believe that God created the human race male and female and that all conduct with the intent to adopt a gender, other than one’s birth gender, is immoral and therefore sin; as well as, a rejection of the image of God within that person (Genesis 1:27; Deuteronomy 22:5).

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess, forsake their sin, and seek His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; I Corinthians 6:9-11).

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31).  Hateful or harassing behavior or attitudes directed towards any individual should be repudiated as they are not in accordance with the Scriptures; nor are they in accordance with the core values of Regency Christian Center.

We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Regency Christian Center as an expression of the Body of Christ, and to provide a Biblical role model for our staff, congregation, and community, it is imperative that all persons associated with Regency Christian Center, in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to support and abide by this Statement of Faith and with the church’s right to teach what it deems to be the fundamental tenets of Christianity and beliefs, including that of marriage, gender identity, and human sexuality (1Corinthians 5:1-5, 9-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:22 ; Philippians 2:14-16; Matthew 5:16).

Our Statement of Faith is not exhaustive of all our beliefs. The Bible, as the inspired and infallible written Word of God, speaks with absolute authority regarding the proper conduct of mankind and is the unchanging foundation for all belief and behavior. The Regency Christian Center Board holds final interpretive authority on Biblical meaning and application with regard to faith, doctrine, policy, practice, and discipline as they apply to Regency Christian Center.

MINISTRY MANDATE

Our core values flow out of two definitive statements made by Jesus that identify the purposes He has assigned to His church.

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT:

Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it; ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

In the Great Commandment, Jesus identifies two assignments He has given His church:

• To love God with every fiber of our being and life;
• To love people with the same measure of love we afford ourselves.

THE GREAT COMMISSION:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

 In the Great Commission, Jesus identifies three assignments He has given to His church:

• To make converts, baptize them, and develop them into disciples;
• To enfold them into the fellowship of the local church family;
• To teach His disciples His Word and His ways.

CORE VALUES

SCRIPTURE

We believe the Bible to be the infallible, inspired Word of God, and to be the absolute truth of God.

We believe that the Bible is both relevant and trustworthy to address every area of life.

We believe the Bible is the final umpire in all matters of life.

The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous laws are eternal. (Psalm 119:160)

The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. (Psalm 19:7-10)

WORSHIP

The highest priority for a believer is to love God and to express that love to Him in times of celebration and intimacy.

Worship can simply be stated as “love that responds to love.”

Worship is not just an activity of the corporate service on Sunday; it is to become the lifestyle of every follower of Christ.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. (Psalms 95:6)

You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve. (Matthew 4:10)

COMMUNITY

The mandate of the church is to make new converts and baptize them enfolding them into the fellowship of the church.

We teach believers that we are called to “belong,” not just to “believe.”

Every believer needs to develop relationships with other believers who will hold them accountable and encourage them.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

DISCIPLESHIP

A disciple is a disciplined follower of Jesus.

A disciple will mature in spiritual matters through a disciplined pursuit of the precepts of the Bible.

As we grow in their knowledge of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will produce the nature and character of Christ within us.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. (Colossians 1:28)  

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. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:13-16)

SERVICE

We learn to serve God by serving others.

God has given special gifts and abilities to each member of His family to reach out to people in need and serve His purposes.

Every believer needs to discover, develop, and invest their ministry gifts into serving God and serving people.

Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

MISSION

We reach out to our circle of influence by telling how Jesus saved us and what a positive difference He has made in our lives.

We reach out to those who are outside our circle of influence with practical ways of expressing Christ’s love.

We reach out to the nations of the world and tell them of the life-changing love of Jesus Christ.

Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.  (John 20:21)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem (our circle of influence), and in all Judea and Samaria (outside our circle of influence), and to the ends of the earth (the nations of the world). (Acts 1:8)