St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, has been serving Apopka, Forest City, Altamonte Springs, Lockhart and the Maitland area for over 50 years. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Book of Order declares that “the mission of the church is given form by God’s activity in the world as told in the Bible and understood by faith.”In speaking of the Church as the body of Christ, 1 Cor.12:12-27 We are to be “the provisional demonstration of what God intends for all of humanity.”
(1) The church is called to be Christ’s faithful evangelist going into the world, making 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 he has commanded. Matthew 28:18-20
(2) demonstrating by the love of its members for one another and by the quality of its common life the new reality in Christ; sharing in worship, fellowship, and nurture, practicing a deepened life of prayer and service under the guidance of the Holy Spirit;
(3) participating in God’s activity in the world through its life for others by
(a) healing and reconciling and binding up wounds,
(b) ministering to the needs of the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the powerless,
(c) engaging in the struggle to free people from sin, fear, oppression, hunger and injustice,
(d) giving itself and its substance to the service of those who suffer,
(e) sharing with Christ in the establishing of His just, peaceable, and loving rule in the world.
The Church is called to undertake this mission even at the risk of losing its life, trusting in God alone as the author and giver of life, sharing the gospel, and doing those deeds in the world that point beyond themselves to the new reality in Christ.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the Church.