What is an MC?

MC is short for “missional community” or “micro-church”. There’s a difference between the two, but they have a lot in common.

At a simple level, an MC is a group of people who help one another try to live like Jesus. Jesus led a three dimensional life: Up, he continued to work to keep a close relationship with God the Father; In, he built close relationships and invested in his disciples; and Out, he went out to people meeting the needs, addressing evil, and bringing the good news of God’s kingdom there with grace, love, and power.

With an MC, we invite people into community and equip and encourage one another for mission. We believe the best way to do this is to create an environment for people to intentionally practice living like Jesus (Up, In, and Out) within a group.  We structure and shape MC gatherings so that they help people experience this.

Discipleship happens best when it’s connected to missional community life.  Jesus taught his disciples to live the way he did, and he commissioned them to make disciples.  While many people have responded to the calling to follow Jesus, only a few of us have actually been discipled.  Fewer still know how to disciple another.  We equip the leaders of the MCs with a set of tools for their own discipleship that they can then pass onto others.

Worship: God is good and worthy of praise.  We invite the MCs together for worship once a month (on Second Sundays).  We celebrate what God is doing on the First Coast.  Our worship services provide motivation, inspiration, encouragement, and deeper teaching.

We tend to do that last one while we are doing the other three.  And, I should add that we also handle administration (finances, taxes, employees, etc.) so that our MCs don’t have to.  But our ministry activities happen in MCs, discipleship huddles, and worship gatherings.