Vision, Mission, Values
Our Vision
The vision of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando is to empower a diverse body of confessing believers, who seek to know and worship God, share His eternal love, and humbly serve a broken world.
Our Mission
The mission of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando is to be a clear voice of hope, light, and spiritual renewal in the Heart of the City, our denomination, and the world, boldly lifting up the name of Jesus Christ. We will answer our call as christians to be a discipling church committed to prayer, worship, and the message of salvation through the shed blood and bodily resurrection of Christ, our Savior. We will fulfill our responsibility as loyal followers of Jesus Christ by fostering a diverse culture of mission-minded believers who individually and collectively share their God-given gifts and the hope of spiritual transformation with all others.
Our Values
As God reveals His nature through Holy Scripture, the following emerge as our core doctrines. These form the focal point of our values at First Presbyterian Church of Orlando:
Authority of Scripture: God has revealed Himself through His inspired, infallible, and reliable Word. Therefore, we teach the Bible as truth, our dependable guide for life and ministry. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)
Worship: God alone is worthy of our unending worship. Therefore, through worship, we enter into God’s presence, declaring His worth and giving Him our best. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. (Psalm 96:6)
Missions: God has called His people to serve in ministry. Therefore, we encourage all leaders of FPCO to see themselves as called and fully-empowered missionaries. Missions is the way we seek to be a people who gladly serve rather than seeking to be served. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:44-45)
Evangelism: God loves lost people and through His Holy Spirit draws them into a loving relationship with Him through His Son. Therefore, we seek to reach out to the lost, lovingly and persuasively introducing them to the saving power of Jesus Christ. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
Prayer: God invites us to bring our needs to Him and intimately communicate with Him about every dimension of life. Therefore, we express our dependence on Him and His power through prayer. Prayer reminds us that since God provides the power, He must receive the glory. Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Mathew 7:7-8)
Discipleship: God calls His people to grow into mature disciples. Therefore, we follow Christ’s example in calling, teaching, training, and empowering others so they in turn grow to maturity in Christ and reproduce in others their life in Christ. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:2)
Grace: God has lavished us with His grace through the person, work, and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we humbly seek to be a grace-giving church known for treating others with kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, and grace. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)
Stewardship: God provides every spiritual and material resource needed for life and ministry. Having received the great gift of our salvation through Jesus Christ, His people respond with the giving of their lives and resources. We use these resources carefully and prayerfully, trusting God to meet our needs His way. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” Says the Lord Almighty, “And see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it”. (Malachi 3:10)
Experience: God has given us the opportunity to experience Him in many ways. We experience God with others (community), with mind (thinking critically), with heart (our empathy and compassion), with body (service), and with our senses (the beauty of creation). (I Corinthians 14)