Who We Are

 In 2011, Journey of Faith was established as a mission church of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). As such, we hold the same core values: Christ Centered, Traditionally Grounded, Mission Driven, and Congregationally Focused. Pastor Traci Featheringham was called to serve our congregation in 2012 and has been leading us ever since. We have always welcomed anyone who wants to inquire into, revive, or continue to build a relationship with Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We believe our Lord has a distinct plan for each of our lives and, when we are in a relationship with Him, it is slowly revealed to us as He walks with us in life's peaks and valleys. We believe this is the path to a fulfilling and meaningful "abundant life" which God promised us in Scripture.

Our Purpose

At Journey of Faith, we believe that we are called to be a body of believers in Jesus Christ that develop ourselves and others through consistent worship, prayer, outreach, and service. In doing so we have a mission to love, nurture, encourage, and teach others about the Good News of Christ Jesus. Our message is meant for anyone who is willing to open their hearts, eyes, and ears to the Gospel. We realize that we are all sinners and that everyone is in need of Our Savior and we want to walk this Journey of Faith together.

Our Vision

We share in building joyful relationships with God, each other, and the world regardless of where we are on our Journey of Faith.

Our Beliefs

We believe our Lord has a distinct plan for each of our lives and when we are in a relationship with Him, it is slowly revealed to us as He walks with us in life’s peaks and valleys.
In particular, we follow the Common Confession:

  • The Mission and Ministry of the Congregation:  We believe and confess that the church is the assembly of believers called and gathered by God around Word and Sacrament, and that the mission and ministry of the church is carried out within the context of individual congregations, which are able to work together locally and globally.
  • The Lord Jesus Christ:  We are people who believe and confess our faith in the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We trust and believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
  •  The Gospel of Salvation:  We believe and confess that all human beings are sinners, and that sinners are redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God alone justifies human beings by faith in Christ — a faith that God creates through the message of the Gospel. As ambassadors for Christ, God uses us to speak his Word and build his kingdom.
  •  The Authority of Scripture:  We believe and confess that the Bible is God’s revealed Word to us, spoken in Law and Gospel. The Bible is the final authority for us in all matters of our faith and life.
  •  A Common Confession of Faith:  We accept and uphold that the Lutheran Confessions reliably guide us as faithful interpretations of Scripture, and that we share a unity and fellowship in faith with others among whom the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached and the sacraments are administered in accordance with the Gospel.
  •  The Priesthood of All Believers: We believe and confess that the Holy Spirit makes all who believe in Jesus Christ to be priests for service to others in Jesus’ name, and that God desires to make use of the spiritual gifts he has given through the priesthood of all believers.
  •  Marriage and Family: We believe and confess that the marriage of male and female is an institution created and blessed by God.

We know that we are all walking at different paces, but we are on the same path. So, regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, we believe that you will find that being part of this body of Christ will be encouraging, fulfilling, and energizing.

Worshiping

We believe that Confession of sins and Communion are integral parts of worship and therefore we offer both on a weekly basis. We practice Communion with small pieces of bread (pita or similar) and individual cups of wine or juice. Communion is available to anyone believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and who has received communion instruction. We worship in a lively contemporary setting with video praise music and occasionally performed live by our members. You will find the music inspirational and uplifting as we combine both traditional hymns and modern songs. Our sermon teachings are based on the authority of Scripture and how it applies to our daily lives.

Teaching

We offer Bible study on Sundays where we follow a guided study of a particular book of the Bible or a topic whose threads run through many scriptures. On alternating weeks, we have book studies which help us to apply the Word to our lives and study more in depth. Our goal is to grow in our understanding of the scriptures and God's design for our lives. As we learn, we become teachers ourselves, maturing in the Spirit.

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Serving

Although we are a small church, we focus on offering outreach opportunities to serve those in need. We encourage our visitors and members to grow their relationship with Our Savior as they serve others. In this way we show our love for Christ and share that love with those in our congregational family and in our community. We truly believe that faith without works is dead... we must serve in order to fully live.

What We Do

Beside our weekly worship service, Bible study, and mid-week book studies, we have several ministries that we regularly perform. Other ministries and fellowship activities are less regular in occurrence, but make our congregational life complete.

Our Monthly Ministries

The first regular ministry we started (which continues today) is our monthly Community Meal. This ministry began shortly after we organized as a body of Christ in response to a need to help those in our community who must stretch their food supplies at the end of the month. As part of a group of churches in North Ridgeville who answer this call for help by providing a meal during the last week of the month, we serve a lunch on the last Sunday. It has been a joy to build relationships with our neighbors who join us for these meals.

The second of our regular ministries is our "Adopt-a-Nursing Home" ministry. Each month we make colorful, seasonal, creatively designed name tags for each resident at a local nursing home and put them on their doors. While we are doing this, we visit with the residents and bring smiles and friendship to brighten their day. Quarterly we organize an activity such as a craft or bingo which we do with them as well.

The third ministry is our "Wrapped in Prayer" blankets. These are made monthly and given to people who are hurting, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally. These lap blankets are accompanied by a note reminding the recipient that they are loved, being prayed for, and always in the Lord's care. It is our hope that as they wrap themselves in the blanket, they will feel the arms of Christ around them. We started including devotional journals with the blankets as we began partnering with St. John Westshore Hospital Oncology Dept. in the Spring of 2022.

Fellowship Activities

We believe that every congregation is a family and every family needs time together to bond, share highs and lows, and support one another. To this end, we have times of fellowship such Trivia Nights, Chili Cook-offs, Soup Cook-offs, Tea Parties and Movie Nights.

Events

In the past, we have had music concerts we dubbed "Journey Jams", where we invited other church bands and artists to join us in evenings of musical celebration. Often joining us was Egypt, who shared her spoken word talent with us. Our space is smaller now, but we still love to celebrate and worship with lively music.

We also organize groups to go to larger events such as the Alive Festival, Winter Jam, The Fest  and Sight & Sound Theater.

Other Activities

Although done less frequently, we also participate in Operation Christmas Child, collect supplies for our local food pantry, help support the work of NALC Disaster Response, raise funds to support missions beyond our community (such as school fees for the Malawi Orphan Care Project).

In everything we do, we keep Christ and His mission as our center focus. That is, in addition to building our relationship with Jesus, we also strive to build relationships in our families, our community, our workplaces and schools, and in the global church.

What's Next

In this section, you will find our calendar of events and activities where you can join us. Everything we do is open to anyone who would like to join us, whether just for an activity or to become part of our family. We are not an exclusive club and there are no membership fees. We welcome all who are interested in participating.

Upcoming Activities & Events


APRIL MISSION COLLECTION
Bus for Remember Nhu
Bolivia Mobile Office

Benevolence funds will be sent, but if you would like to contribute as part of JoF, please leave a note on your offering designating Remember Nhu Bus. The link above can ve used to see how their fundraising is going and ideas how the funds will be used.

Small Groups

Adult Bible Study – (Sundays @ 10:00 am) - Our Adult Study has been using videos and study guides from RightNow Media to explore several books of the Bible as well as topics of seasonal interest (such as the Advent season and the cultural background of the people in that story). Join us for our weekly study on Sunday mornings at 10 am!

Our weekly bulletins can be found here:

Weekly Book Study – (Alternate Wednesdays @ 7:00 pm) - We are currently reading and discussing “Revelation: Worthy is the Lamb” by Concordia Publishers. This book delves into The Revelation of John and guides the participants in the study to a deep look and the meaning and application to our lives. The book is available in paperback from Amazon.

Prayer Group – We meet as a family giving thanks and praise to God as well as petitioning for His involvement in our lives and the lives around us. This takes place during the first 10-15 minutes of the Adult Bible Study on Sunday mornings @ 10:00 am.

Beyond Our Walls

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. (Col 2:6-8)

Missions

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

We have entered into a covenant partner relationship with the Malawi Orphan Care Project and are providing financial support on a monthly basis and prayer support on a continual basis. For more information and updates, check our
 MOCP page
 

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Prayer Requests

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
-- Philippians 4:6 --
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Find/Contact Us

We are located in the business park just off Lear Nagle Road south of Center Ridge Road in North Ridgeville, Ohio.

Map of JoF

Hours: Sundays - 10:00am Bible Study - 11:00am Praise Worship

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