Hiawatha Church is a community of people who seek to know God more each day through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are an intentional second site of ministry of Hope Community Church, with whom we share leadership, staff, and financial resources. Our goal is to eventually operate independently of Hope but with a continued partnership as a growing network of churches who make a difference in our city for Christ.

Hiawatha Church is affiliated with the Baptist General Conference (BGC).
BGC affirmation of faith (theological beliefs)

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Our Core Values

1. Glorifying God. Hiawatha Church acknowledges that all things are from God, through God, and to God (Romans 11:35-36). We value the fact that it’s not about us; we were all created to worship God, and we believe this is the chief end of mankind. Through Christ we are saved in order to worship and glorify God (Exodus 7:16, Luke 5:25-26, Romans 12:1, Revelation 4:9-11), and it is this very thing that brings us the most joy in life (John 16:20-22, John 17:13,24, Acts 16:34).
2. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We value the good news of salvation, not only in its spoken form, but in its lived-out form as well. Everything we do—whether it be preaching, singing, offering hospitality, eating together, or hanging out as a church—is grounded on the gospel (Colossians 3:17). We value being people of grace (1 Peter 5:12, 2 Peter 3:18) and peace (Romans 14:17, Ephesians 6:15) who live because Christ has died on the cross for our sins (Galatians 2:20), who are humble, and who are becoming more like Jesus every day (Colossians 3:10).
3. The Bible. We value the Bible as the inspired Word of God and as the source of truth and guide for living (John 17:17). God’s Word changes lives, and so we value preaching, teaching, studying, and meditating upon it (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
4. The Power of the Holy Spirit. We value the renewing, re-creating, and regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). We have no desire to have the ministry of this church powered on our own strength; rather, we want to depend on God, go where he is leading, see his kingdom expand through prayer, and experience his different expressions of grace through the gifts of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, Ephesians 4:12, 1 Peter 5:10).
5. Church Community. We value the church as the redeemed community of God’s people in Christ, saved from sin, delivered from death, breathed into life. We intend to help people see “church” as much more than a Sunday morning gathering—for it is a network of relationships that happen every day, first with the individual and God through Christ, but then experienced between each other as well. The church is the God ordained means by which we all persevere in the faith, through the edifying, Spirit-empowered gifts of other Christians (Galatians 6:9-10, Hebrews 10:24-25).
6. All People. We not only value the church but we value all people because they matter to God (Ezekiel 33:11, 2 Peter 3:9). No matter how far away from him they might seem, they matter to God. Therefore, we want to love and honor people—wherever they are spiritually—while also encouraging them to pursue the gospel further (Acts 17:16-34). We will do all of this in a God honoring manner.
7. The Great Commission. We believe that Jesus Christ has commissioned the church to share the gospel with the world around us (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). Thus we value things that help us to remain outward focused such as outreach, children’s ministry, evangelism, leadership development, church planting, and global missions.
8. Hospitality. We have a high goal to ensure that all feel welcomed and served. In the same way that Christ has welcomed us into a relationship with God, we seek to welcome others into our community (Romans 15:7). In this spirit, we believe hospitality to be a crucial element in the enrichment of Christian community (Hebrews 13:1-2, 1 Peter 4:8-11). Fellowship is fostered over the “breaking of bread” and so a core element of our community is gathering around a meal.
9. Service. Jesus himself did not come to be served, but to serve (Matt. 20:28). With Christ as our model we seek to serve one another and the world. Exercising our faith we resist the temptation to be first and instead aim to be the least in all humility (Mark 9:35; Philippians 2:5-8; James 3:11-14).
10. Creativity. We value creativity expressed first by God through his creation. We are to be stewards of the environment, caring for it, benefiting from it, but not abusing it. The created order expresses God’s creative powers to an infinite degree (Psalm 104:24-26). We are made in God’s image and therefore have been given a certain, but imperfect, propensity for creative expression (Psalm 33:3). As a reflection of this, we value human creativity such as music, poetry, dance, and the visual arts.
11. Authenticity. We desire this community to be authentic. We are all imperfect and sinful people with various problems to various degrees. There is no need to hide these blemishes. True community can only exist in an environment where people can be real with one another (Ephesians 4:25).
12. Being Relevant. The gospel transcends time and culture and can be communicated in a variety of ways (1 Corinthians 9:21-23; Acts 17:22-24).  We seek to contextualize the gospel by communicating it in a way that makes sense in the hearer’s context. We do not do this at the expense of what we believe to be sound doctrine (2 Corinthians 4:2; Galatians 1:8-9). We believe it is possible to both passionately pursue biblical truth and relevant ministry at the same time.
13. Having Fun. We highly value having a good time. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and greatly enjoy simply spending time together for fun’s sake. Whether hanging out on Sunday morning, playing softball or a game around a table, we enjoy fun and laughter as a gift from God and a reflection of one part of his nature. We believe true joy to be an outworking of our faith in Jesus Christ and value it as one of the strands that make up Hiawatha Church (1 Timothy 4:4,6:17).