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Big Picture

While we are a Church called to reach the people who live on the North Shore with the gospel of Jesus Christ, when we gather for weekly worship people join us from 11 different parishes in our city. Who will care for all these people? Who will lead them to live missionally faithful lives in their own neighborhoods? Our answer assumes that being the Church is more basic than "going" to Church services. Our answer is that our parish elders provide oversight through fellowship groups in each of these parishes and our parish deacons lead us in service to one another and our neighbors.

Since we are the Church we look out for one another and reach out together. This model is as old as the Exodus (Ex 18) and the earliest Christians (Acts 6), as traditionally Presbyterian as Thomas Chalmers, and as fresh as current attempts (1st Pres Augusta and Westside Pres Atlanta) to go for it! Read Walter Heneger's article entitled Location, Location, Location to get an idea of what we long for here in Chattanooga. Here's what others in our denomination are saying about parishes.

Little examples

Singles, families and widows are receiving spiritual direction and care from one another and especially from our elders in their parishes.

Our deacons are helping us move toward one another and our neighbors with tangible expressions of the good news that God cares about the broken details of our lives.

Parish deacons have funds to help fellowship groups meet needs inside and outside our body.

Big Hopes

Structuring ourselves like this helps us realize our original vision. The original vision for NSF was to be a part of a church planting network around our city. Shared ministry with one another in our local parishes and with our neighbors in mind will help us discern where to plant new churches. Keeping our original vision in mind, our members who live in North Chatt are our front line for outreach to this part of the city. As they partner with one another to build relationships with the people and institutions of this part of the city, they open doors for all of us to embody Jesus here and inspire us to imitate them all over our region.

Parish Nursing

The objective of parish nursing is to reclaim the church as a place of healing of the mind, body and spirit. The purpose of the Parish Nurse, along with the Health Care Committee, is to educate, advocate, counsel, refer, provide support, and visit members of the faith community.

We see this ministry fitting well within our parish overseer and diaconate model. The Parish Nurse & Health Care Committee will be available to the staff, elders, deacons, & fellowship group leaders as a resource to assist them in education, advocacy, counseling, referral, support, and visitations of members of their shepherding groups.

Contact info

Feel free to email one of the Health Care Committee members if you have questions.