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As a beast goes down into the valley,
And the Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest,
So You lead Your people,
To make Yourself a glorious name.
(Isaiah 63:14)
From Scripture we understand the general goal of the Church in all places in all ages to be the glorifying of God through the advancing of Christ's kingdom in bringing the gospel to unbelievers and in bringing believers closer to God. This is done by the Church as she performs her three essential functions of worship (of God), nurture (of believers) and outreach (to unbelievers). Our Book of Church Order lists these same three functions as "divine worship, mutual edification, and gospel witness" (Form of Government II.4). In line with the general goal of the Church and its essential functions and picking up wording from Isaiah 63:14 (above), we express the earnest desire of Providence Presbyterian Church in our own setting:
That God's name be made glorious to us and through us throughout the greater Austin area.
There are certainly other ways to say this, but we would emphasize that the God-centeredness of this aim is intentional and that we intend the impact of our worship and nurture and outreach to be the recognition of, and response to, the glory of God. This statement of desire functions for us similarly to what might be viewed as a purpose statement but with this difference: since it is beyond our ability go accomplish, we must depend on God for it.
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