Mission, Vision, Values

  • Transforming Lives, Transforming Everything

  • Together, practicing the ways of Jesus and inviting others on the journey.

  • Relationally Authentic

    • Authenticity isn’t just about wearing our heart on our sleeve but actually allowing God to reveal all he has created us to be and become. Transformation happens in community that practices vulnerability in real and authentic ways, calling each other to more.

    Spirit-Dependent

    • Life is a lot work. Following the way of Jesus, his practices, teachings and life is an invitation to rest. A rest that is found in the work he has already done, pursuing a relationship with us out of love. A relationship that allows transformation from the inside out, allowing God’s love, beauty and goodness to work in and through every aspect of our lives.

    Others-Centered

    • To be the people of God is to be blessed in order to be a blessing to others. Following the life and teachings of Jesus together, formed and empowered by God’s spirit, we are compelled to participate in the larger story of God’s mission to heal the world through the presence and power of his love. Here we find greater purpose & meaning for our life.

What we believe

  • I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

    I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.

    On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

    I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

    Amen.

  • I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

    And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

    Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

    I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets.

    I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

    Amen.

  • Langham Partnership is committed to the fundamental truths of historic biblical Christianity, in accordance with which we affirm:

    1. There is one, eternal God, Creator and Lord of the universe who, in the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, both governs all things according to God’s will and is accomplishing God’s purpose in the world and in the church.

    2. The Holy Scripture in its entirety is inspired by God’s Spirit through human authors and constitutes the revelation of God’s truth to humanity. It is wholly true and trustworthy in all that it affirms. Whatever the Bible, rightly interpreted, is found to teach, we are bound to believe and obey. It is our supreme authority in every matter of belief and conduct.

    3. All human beings are created in God’s own likeness and therefore have inherent value and equality before God. Human sin and guilt since the fall have rendered us subject to God’s wrath and condemnation and have resulted in our alienation from God’s life, suppression of God’s truth and hostility to God’s law. God’s love desires all to come to repentance and to be reconciled rather than condemned.

    4. Salvation from the guilt, penalty and all other consequences of sin has been achieved solely through the work of Jesus Christ – his perfect obedience, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection and exaltation as Lord. Jesus alone is truly God and truly human, the only mediator between God and humanity. There is salvation through no other person, creed, process or power. Each sinner is justified before God and reconciled to God only by divine grace appropriated by faith alone.

    5. The work of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the individual’s new birth and growth to maturity. The Holy Spirit empowers and indwells the church, enabling its constant renewal in truth, wisdom, faith, holiness, love, ministry, power and mission.

    6. There is one, holy, universal and apostolic church, which is the Body of Christ, and to which all true believers belong. The church’s calling is to worship God forever and to serve God in the world.

    7. As the Father sent the Son into the world, so the Lord Jesus Christ sends his church to participate in God’s mission by words and works. The church is called: to make Christ known; to proclaim God’s truth and the gospel of God’s grace; to make disciples among all nations; to exhibit God’s character through compassionate care for the needy; to demonstrate the reality of God’s kingdom through creative and sacrificial living, the community of love, the quest for righteousness, justice and peace, and the care of God’s creation.

    8. As the Lord Jesus ascended to his Father, so he will return personally, visibly and in glory. He will raise the dead and bring salvation and judgment to final completion. God will then fully establish his Kingdom and finish the new creation – a new heaven and a new earth from which all evil and evildoers, all suffering and death, will be excluded and in which God will be glorified forever.

Who We’re Going With

  • Midtown, while locally rooted and atonomous, strives to be connected to something larger than ourselves.

    We are committed to, accountable to and led by an association of churches, Vineyard USA.

  • One of the impetuses for this vision is our city’s perennial struggle with concentrated poverty and its effects. Since the Brookings Institution published its concentrated poverty study in late 2005, Fresno has made minimal progress related to this issue and has continued to battle the effects of our city’s condition. The blame for our lack of progress can be assigned to many, but amidst our struggles there are many who have devoted themselves to seeing Fresno flourish.

    Vision 22 celebrates those efforts and believes that perhaps the greatest movement is still to come. It is a movement that is not focused on the concentration of poverty, but on the concentration of “light.”

    This “light” emanates from the Body of Christ in Fresno, joined together and actively pursuing God’s vision for our twenty-two neighborhoods of concentrated poverty as well as for our entire city.