What We Believe

What We Believe

Pilgrim Baptist Church, as part of the North American Baptist Conference in British Columbia, believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross to remove the penalty of sin on every person, which originated from Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden, and was raised to life three days later. He is sitting next to God the Father and will one day come back to redeem those who believe in Him.

Our Purpose Statement

The purpose of Pilgrim Baptist Church is to please God by reaching people and building them up as disciples of Jesus Christ who are able to disciple others also.

Our Mission Statement

The mission of Pilgrim Baptist Church, in fulfillment of our purpose, is:

to win lost people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ;
to build up believers in Christ through worship, preaching and teaching God's word, and through fellowship in a Christian community;
to equip workers to identify their unique gifts and calling, given to them by the Lord in fulfillment of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission;
and to multiply leaders who will continue to give servant-leadership to this ministry in years to come.

An Elaboration on the Vision Statement

The purpose of Pilgrim Baptist Church is to reach people and build them up as disciples of Jesus Christ.

This means continuing our outreach to the sourrounding community, with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, through our Sunday worship services, mid-week events, and special programs, such as our family services with lunch and five-day children's clubs. Pilgrim is a multi-ethnic congregation ranging from those who are fluent in English to those who cannot speak English at all. Currently, we have a senior pastor serving in English, and an associate pastor serving the young generation.

Our vision of ministry is based on our multi-ethnic congregational model which seeks to incorporate individuals into the church body, with English as the primary language of worship. The Chinese adn East Indian communities are the predominant ethnicities within our neighbourhood. We will develop and encourage language specific ministries to support our members as a way of doing outreach to those ethnic groups.

One of Pilgrim's visions is to have a solid young people's ministry, which builds on our strong Sunday School program.

In fulfillment of our purpose, one of the missions of Pilgrim is to build up believers in Christ through worship, preaching and teaching God's Word, and through fellowship in a Christian community, with groups such as the Agape women's missionary fellowship, seniors, and College and Career. A number of our members ahve attended the Growing Healthy Churches Seminar, and we are trying to incorporate the principles learned into our church ministry. Pilgrim desires to build up their young people by involving them in training programs like the Sonlife Evangelical Missions Project (SEMP).

In this way, believers will have a vision for the Church, and will be further equipped to identify their unique gifts and calling, given to them by the Lord in fulfillment of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

As a result of the Growing Healthy Churches Seminar, we see a renewed importance in equipping workers. By equipping workers, leaders are multiplied. Pilgrim's vision is to have many leaders, who will continue to give servant-leadership to our ministry in years to come. In our efforts to build up believers in Christ, and win new believers to Him, English as a Second Language (ESL) courses can be a useful tool.

The size of our facility, especially the space available for Christian Education, is a limiting facor to the growth of our ministry. As a community church, we look to the Lord to show us the best means possible to expand our facility, while maintaining our close ties to the neighbourhood.

Pilgrim's vision is to have open doors for all - whosoever believes in the name of the Lord will be saved and given eternal life. Pilgrim submits to the Lord and desires to be a place of worship where believers can draw near to God, and focus upon their Creator.