Why We Exist 

Our Vision

to see this community ROOTED and GROWING together in Christ

Our Mission

to help you ENCOUNTER the glory of God, EXPERIENCE life together, ENGAGE your world with the gospel, and EXPAND the Kingdom of God

Where It comes from

  • Our vision comes from Jeremiah 17:5-8 which says, “Thus says the Lord “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

    Through the power of the gospel, we see a day when verses 7-8 describe our community more than verses 5-6.

  • We want to see the people of Forest to Encounter the Glory of God through an upward relationship with the Savior, to Experience Life Together through an inward connection with others who are apart of this community, to Engage your World to share the love of Christ through outward connections, and to Expand the Kingdom of God to carry the gospel message onward.

Our 5 Core Values

Our 5 Core Values

Kingdom Collaboration

We are stronger together. We believe that the biblical model for making disciples is through community and the model for leadership is also through plurality. We believe every layer of discipleship within our churches requires diversity of gifts, stories, and personalities to lead. We also pursue partnerships, connections, and genuinely shared ministry with other churches, organizations, and nonprofits. We choose kingdom over competition.

Biblical Authority

We delight in the Word of God. We highly value the Scriptures because it has the power to change our hearts and lives for eternity. There are no errors in it, no equals to it, and no substitutes for it. It is with humble hearts that we seek to accurately proclaim what God has said in His Word in a way that is relevant and applicable to our lives and to set our hearts to study and apply it individually and within the context of community.

Gospel Community

A forest is a collection of trees. A tree is separate and not connected to others. We believe the best context for disciples to be made, to grow into maturity, and sent out on mission is within community. Similarly, the community of disciples is the context in which people who don’t know Jesus encounter the love of Jesus. We structure and support each other around the idea that we are showing, sharing, and shaped by the gospel.

Missional Service

We are rooted and growing together in order to bear fruit and bless others. We simply bear the fruit that God produces. We pursue a reliance on the power, wisdom, and presence of the Holy Spirit for all we do. We look to the work of the Spirit operating in us and through us in everything we do to serve our world. We seek to use our gifts to serve others in our everyday lives and rhythms.

Intentional Multiplication

Healthy things grow and growing things multiply. Trees make other trees and groups of trees become forests. The good news about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is not simply a message to receive when coming into the faith, but is the core reality that shapes how we lead, how we serve, how we speak, and how we grow as followers of Jesus within community and on His mission. We work toward the multiplication of disciples and churches as outposts of the kingdom locally, regionally, cross-culturally, and globally.