Who is Innova Church?

• Evangelical - We are an outward focused church, believing that a key purpose of the church is to help people find God by introducing them to Jesus Christ.

• Independent - Innova is self-governed. We do this because it appears to us that that was the way churches were originally governed, and it still appears to be the most effective way for a church to have a positive effect upon the local community.

• Inclusive - Are you interested in learning more about Christianity? If so, you are welcome, whether you are a Protestant Christian, Catholic Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, gay, Wiccan, or Vulcan. Write down five questions you have about Christianity, bring them, and we'll try to answer them. Genuinely seeking God is always welcome here.

• Discipling - We believe strongly that the Christian life doesn't stop with your conversion. Instead, a Christian learns to become more and more like Christ through the process of discipling, which involves Bible study, prayer, personal coaching, service, and fellowship. If you want to grow in your Christianity, come talk to us.

• Non-denominational - We don't belong to any denomination, largely because we try to pull in the good ideas from all the denominations.

• Convergent - In the twentieth century, churches had developed into three main types. There were the sacramental churches which emphasized Communion and the liturgy, the evangelical churches which emphasized helping people find God, and the Spirit-filled churches that emphasized the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A convergent church pulls the good from each of these streams to become a well-rounded church.

• Reformed - The 1500's were a wild time in the history of the church, when Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others attempted the Reformation of the church. The churches which came out of that boiling pot of ideas are often known today as "Reformed" or "Protestant". We prefer to use the "Reformed" name in that very general sense, but you may prefer to think of us as "Protestant".

• Spirit-led - We prefer this terminology to "charismatic" or "Pentecostal", since we do not regularly speak in tongues or have miraculous healing in our orderly services. (However, we do believe that the Spirit will occasionally show these miracles to bring people to Christ.) More commonly, we will ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that we might show extraordinary love for people and better understand their needs and the direction which we should follow.

• Full of Grace - Let's be honest. There are some churches around today that insist they have a detailed list of what it takes to be a Christian. The clothes must be just so. The hair must be just so. Certain activities are clearly banned for Christians. After you get the list down and under control, then they add to the list. You begin to believe that you must be perfect to be a Christian.

  Well, we aren't one of those churches.

  We think that only one person ever could follow God's Laws and Commandments perfectly, and He had the advantage of being the Son of God. The rest of us -- well, that's what Grace is for. Jesus died to burn the rulebook. So let's get to know Jesus Christ and you and Him can talk about your own set of rules.

• Bible-centered - We teach from the Bible and studying the Bible is a large part of what we do. Why? Because the Bible is a mine filled with gems about how to live and have a relationship with God. Yet we do not worship the Bible as some do. The Bible is a message from God, but God is Who we worship.

• Semi-Liturgical - A liturgy is a plan for worship. Liturgical churches follow a worship plan which is usually very detailed, with the words written out far in advance, with everything planned out down to the precise wording of each prayer.

  At the other extreme are churches who have a free-form worship style that varies every week and never has a planned prayer.

  We are somewhere in the middle. We have some traditional parts of our service that are repeated each week, such as the Apostle's Creed, but you will find we also have plenty of room for the guidance of the Spirit.

• Healing - We think that the Gospel is not just about our future heavenly life, but about how to get healed in this life from the damage done by our (original) slavery to sin. Did you know that the biblical concept of healing is actually "to make whole"? And so we look at how to make ourselves "whole". We can be damaged and not even realize it, just as a child who is blind from birth does not realize it until he hears people talking about sight. Often, we are missing key parts of our spirit and soul which would allow us to accomplish so much more if we were "whole". So we are about "healing".

• Sacramental - We believe that Communion is a key part of our worship service. And thus, we usually have Communion at each Sunday morning service.

• Fellowshipping - In today's mobile society, almost everyone moves away from parents and grandparents. We think that we are all poorer for that. So, we think that a key function of the twenty-first century church is to provide an extended family for the members. Need someone to call for a ride when the car is broken down? Need a grandmother's advice about the kids? Need someone to watch your dog? Need some advice on your business? Need to talk about a guy or girl you're dating -- and you can't talk to Mom? Those are all reasons Innova exists. Friends so close, you call them family.

  At Innova, we provide plenty of opportunity to meet people and make friends - friends you can trust. And we call those opportunities "Fellowship Time".

• Missionary - Would you like to learn about missionaries or even become one? At Innova, that is possible. We have friends that are serving around the world in some of the toughest countries for Christians - and some places which are remarkably accepting of the Word of God. We are also planning for some short-term missions work in the near future. We even know how you can be a missionary in Marietta or become a minister.

• Balanced - Many churches make the mistake of over-emphasizing a particular verse or two. For example, our good friends the Calvinists perhaps spend too much time on God's sovereignty, while our Christian Church friends may spend too much time on the method and timing of baptism. Our Charismatic friends perhaps place too much creedance in speaking in tongues, and our fundamentalist Baptist friends likely seperate a bit too much from the world.

  We don't disagree with any of those groups about their concepts. For all we know, they may be perfectly correct. But we think that a balanced approach is necessary - Christianity is about an entire life-and-death concept. We strive to balance ourselves, not going overboard in any particular area -- (even in balancing!) -- because an unbalanced church leads to unbalanced Christians. And that is not healthy.

• Emergent - Brian McClaren, in his book A Generous Orthodoxy talks about a new church "emerging" from the old denominations. In that sense, we are emergent, taking what is good from many different denominations, and hopefully leaving behind the problems. (We agree with about 85 percent of McClaren's points, but not with all of them). Of course, we don't delude ourselves that we will create the "Perfect Church". (In downtown Atlanta, there is a church called The Perfect Church, so it has already been created.) We will have our own problems. Will you join us to help fix them?