We believe every person is created by God with dignity, purpose, and immense worth. Because of that, we want our church to be a place where relationships are marked by genuine love, respect, and care for one another. We also recognize that people follow Jesus in different seasons of life, and that both singleness and marriage can be meaningful, faithful ways of living out our calling in Christ.  

From the opening pages of Scripture, we see God creating humanity as male and female—distinct yet designed to complement one another. As we look to the biblical story for guidance, we understand sexual intimacy as a sacred gift intended to be experienced within the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman.  

Our aim is always to share these beliefs with clarity and grace while welcoming every person who walks through our doors.  

We believe the Spirit gives gifts to both men and women, and we want the whole church family fully empowered to use those gifts for the good of the body. In our church, it’s common to see women leading worship, praying, reading Scripture, teaching, and even preaching. We believe the church is healthiest when every believer, male and female, lives out the calling the Spirit has placed on their life.  

At the same time, we do hold one role distinction. We understand the role of a shepherd as a responsibility Scripture reserves for qualified men. However, this is an authority to be used as Jesus exemplified in his ministry, one that empowers others in using their gifts. 

Our church has an unwavering, uncompromising allegiance to Jesus and his way alone. We don’t believe any political party, ideology, or human philosophy maps perfectly onto the way of Jesus. So while we may speak into issues that affect people’s lives, we don’t pledge our loyalty to anything but him.  

The way of Jesus is inherently political in the sense that it cares deeply about the common good, the vulnerable, and the flourishing of people. But it’s also completely unlike the politics of this world. His kingdom doesn’t run on power grabs, outrage, or team loyalty. It runs on love, grace, truth, justice, sacrifice, and humility.   

While Jesus is the ultimate authority and head of the church, our shepherds function as the highest authority concerning the decisions and direction of Fourth Avenue. Since we are an autonomous congregation, we do not have to get approval for decisions we think are the most fruitful for the church from a higher-up denominational board. The shepherds and staff are able to make decisions for the church as they feel led by the Spirit. We call them shepherds because we see their primary role as a pastoral one—caring for the flock, nurturing spiritual growth, and guiding the church in love and wisdom.  

Our shepherds maintain intentional rhythms to live out this calling. They hold regular “Shabbat” meetings, where they spend time caring for each other’s lives, studying Scripture together, and praying for the church family. In addition, they meet monthly to address the administrative and oversight responsibilities of the role.  

The shepherds empower our church staff to lead effectively and manage the day-to-day operations of the church. Our staff serves the church faithfully to ensure that the life of the church functions smoothly and that the mission of the church is advanced.  

This model allows shepherds to focus on pastoral care while equipping staff and volunteers to use their gifts to serve the church, creating a healthy, collaborative leadership structure rooted in Scripture and the Spirit.  

If you walk around our building, you’ll see historic markers and signage identifying us as a Church of Christ. That’s because our story goes all the way back to 1833, when this congregation was planted by a handful of early Restoration movement leaders, including Alexander Campbell himself. We aren’t hiding our roots, we’re grateful for them.

At Fourth Avenue, we want to hold onto what we believe is the best of the Restoration heritage: a unity movement that sought to move past secondary divisions and simply be Christians together. That vision still matters to us.

There are several historic values we continue to embrace:

• Non-denominational, autonomous leadership
• A deep love for Scripture and the centrality of Jesus
• Regular practice of baptism and the Lord’s Supper
• Congregational singing, which we cherish, though we now accompany it with instruments.
• A commitment to unity across differing backgrounds and traditions
  

At the same time, there are distinctives that set us apart from more traditional Churches of Christ. We observe parts of the Christian calendar—Advent, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Palm Sunday, Easter—as helpful rhythms for spiritual formation. We also hold a strong expectation of the Holy Spirit’s active presence and work, which shapes our worship and our life together.

Our church family includes people from many denominational backgrounds, and we want Fourth to feel like a home for the whole family of God. That’s also why you’ll often hear us refer to ourselves simply as “Fourth Avenue Church.” It reflects who we are today—rooted in our heritage, but living out a broad, open-armed, non-denominational expression of following Jesus. In short: we honor where we’ve come from, and we’re excited about who God is shaping us to be.

We believe the Great Commission isn’t something Jesus gave to someone else; it’s the calling of the whole church. That’s why we’re committed to being people who don’t just talk about loving the world, but actually do it. We desire for our whole church to see themselves as missionaries seeking to share Jesus with our neighbors. We have several ministries within our church that we believe help us accomplish the mission of Jesus, from Alpha, a tool we use to share Jesus with our community, to Fourmation Groups, groups focused on discipleship and continual spiritual formation, to prayer ministry, family ministries, pastoral care ministries, recovery groups, benevolence, and more.

Regarding local missions, rather than reinventing the wheel, we partner with trusted nonprofits and ministries already doing faithful, effective work in our community by meeting real needs and being the hands and feet of Jesus right where they are. The nonprofits we support include Franktown Open Hearts, GraceWorks, One Generation Away, Meals on Wheels, and Leaving the Cocoon. 

At the same time, our vision doesn’t stop at our city limits. We carry a deep heart for global missions, supporting gospel work around the world so that people of every nation can encounter the love and hope of Christ. We support mission efforts in Nicaragua, South Africa, Brazil Rwanda, Honduras, and Mexico. We have also sent short-term mission trip teams to Jamaica and Guatemala. If you’d like to hear more about the missions we support, check out our “Missions” page.