Our Approach

Our approach to everything we do is grounded in the work of spiritual formation, which we organize around three core relationships.

As a community, we aim to embody our three core relationships: love God, love one another, and love the city.

What is spiritual formation?

Spiritual formation—the process of becoming increasingly devoted disciples of Jesus Christ—is what we believe to be the core task of the church. Because we are always being formed into one kind of person or another through everything we do, it is essential for those who desire to become like Jesus to be intentional about how we might change and grow.

At Redeemer Downtown, we seek to create a culture where people respond to the grace shown to us in Jesus by taking ownership and responsibility for their growth. To do this, we engage in nine practices which help us to see Jesus more clearly. For it is through gazing on him that we are changed from glory unto glory, as explained in 2 Corinthians 3:18.

What is your statement of faith?

The beliefs of Redeemer Presbyterian Church Downtown are most fully summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith along with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. These secondary documents are viewed as subordinate to the Bible, which alone is viewed as the infallible Word of God. These historic statements of the faith were written in the 17th century and have stood as the doctrinal standards of Bible-believing Presbyterians for almost 400 years. Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, holds to the Westminster Standards as our core statement of theology.

Our core relationships inform the practices we embrace.

We believe our daily practices—what we choose to prioritize and do regularly—are the things that form us. Incorporating the nine practices below can help us become people who love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and who love our neighbors as ourselves, as the Lord calls us to do in Matthew 22:36-40.

OUR THREE CORE RELATIONSHIPS:

Nine Practices

  • (7/9) Hospitality & Witness
    is the practice of regularly sharing our lives, resources and time with others, especially those who are different from us, so that they might experience the love and welcome of Christ.
  • (8/9) Compassion & Justice
    is the practicing of walking humbly with God and doing justice out of compassionate love.
  • (9/9) Work & Rest
    is the practice of joining God in the renewal of all things by working with integrity for the common good.
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Work & Rest

Ben shares about how he sees rest as a gift from God and explains how he pursues it amidst the demands of his work.

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Compassion & Justice

Aimee shares about how she sees the abundance of suffering in NYC as individual opportunities to practice the ways of Jesus.

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Hospitality & Witness

Ashley & Paul share about how being intentionally friendly and warm can plant seeds for the gospel.

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Church Membership

Andrew shares reflections on how church membership is an outward expression on his faith.

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Spiritual Friendships

Haley reflects on how consistent time in spiritual friendships, sharing and bearing with one another, is both filled with richness and is formative.

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Community Group

David shares reflections from doing life with a community group that's been together for more than 15 years.

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Generosity

Mylo shares about how stepping out in faith and generosity has helped him to grow in his faith and be less fearful.

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Personal Devotions

Ned shares about how he prioritizes reading Scripture before bedtime and how he plans his mornings around Scripture memorization and prayer.

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Corporate Worship

Sarah shares about how her family prioritizes Corporate Worship at Redeemer Downtown and how doing so has helped form and encouraged them.

All of us are works in progress when it comes to becoming like Jesus in his character and purposes. Thus, humility and gentleness toward others is always in order. Our spiritual formation model and the accompanying worksheet provides a pathway and diagnostic tool to help us in our growth.

Download worksheet

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