Our Local Mission | Christ the Servant Church

Our mission is being served by Fr. John Sweeney under the pastoral leadership of Abp. Charles Jones (Primate of the Charismatic Episcopal Church of North America, Archbishop of the Southeast, Bishop of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast and Carolinas and Pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King Church in Selma, Alabama, a church in communion with the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. Click here for more information on Abp. Jones. We are thankful for the local support by Three 16 Church under the leadership of Pastor Randall Sean Garcia and Pastor Randy Garcia https://three16.org/ and for the strategic guidance from World Impact https://www.worldimpact.org/

Radio Interview with Pastor Garcia and Fr. John Sweeney. Click here Radio Interview

By living in Christ and allowing Him to move through us by the Holy Spirit, Christ the Servant Church will bring the Kingdom of God to the least, the lost and the lonely in NW San Antonio resulting in a multi-ethnic Body of disciples that gathers in worship that is sacramental, evangelical and charismatic. We are called by Love, equipped to serve.

Ministry of Jesus

Luke 4:17-21
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

We are Called

Called by Love – We have been reconciled to God by the passionate love of the Father through the gift of His Son Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. Through the Holy Spirit we are called to fully receive His Love and enter into the very life and love of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Called to Love Him – as we passionately love Him in return with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are called to be worshippers (lovers) in all aspects of our life.
Called to Love People – compelled by the love of Christ, we are called to love all those whom He loves and gave Himself for. All of our love flows from the Love that has been spread abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Our love and care for one another is experienced within the community of the church in our families and small group settings and displayed to the world through both organized events/ministries and in our everyday lives.
Called to Be Equipped to Serve – all of God’s people are called to be filled with His Spirit, released in His giftings and equipped to do the work and ministry of Jesus (Ephesians 4). We are called, in a spirit of humility, to serve just as He “came to serve and not be served”. We are called to be the expression of Jesus to our generation, bringing His Kingdom and ministry to the least, the lost, and the lonely in our spheres of influence.
Called to Plant and Establish Strong Apostolic Churches centered on the table of the Lord. Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
- Apostles’ teaching in terms of the ancient faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3)
- Apostles’ fellowship in terms of their relationship to episcopal authority: the bishop
- The breaking of bread and prayers in terms of the Eucharist

How the Church Accomplishes the Ministry of Jesus

Acts 2:42-46 –
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Equipped to Serve

Ephesians 4:11 -16
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

To achieve the purposes of God, we will engage in the following:

Worship – Doxa – centered on the Presence of Christ in our celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the table of the Lord. Acts 2:46-47; 1 Corinthians 10:31. Our worship is fully sacramental, fully evangelical, and fully charismatic as the Body of Christ.
Equipping – Katartismos – Ephesians 4:11-12; 2 Timothy 2:2. Intentionally equipping all of God’s people to continue the ministry and works of Christ, both in the fruits of the Spirit expressing the character of Christ (Gal 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”) and the gifts of the Holy Spirit expressing the ministry of Christ (Rom 12:1-2; 1 Cor 12:8-10 “for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”)
Outreach – Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are advancing and extending the Kingdom of God (the present rule and reign of Christ) and taking the ministry of Jesus Christ to the least, the lost, and the lonely in Northwest San Antonio area. Luke 4:17-21 “And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Preaching – Kerygma – Acts 1:8; Romans 1:16-17; 1 John 1:5-9. To preach; to herald; to publish; doctrine and truth; content; message. The preaching of Christ, His life, death, and resurrection will find a place of high importance in our gatherings.
Teaching – Didache – Acts 2:42; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Colossians 3:16; Matthew 28:19-20. Doctrine; to learn; instruction. Building a strong foundation of faith centered on the Word of God in small group bible studies and Christian formation/education for all ages.
Fellowship – Koinonia – Acts 2:42, 46; Romans 12:10-13. Partnership; to participate; social intercourse; common; sharer; associate. Intentionally sharing our life of Christ with each other: through church family gatherings, small group fellowship, and personal relationships.
Sending – Diaspora – Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:1’ Acts 13:2-3. To raise up leaders to establish new home groups and ministries and to raise up apostolic teams to plant new parishes in our local community to extend the Kingdom of God. Our desire is that these church plants will, in turn, plant other churches.
Service – Diakonia – Acts 2:44-45; Acts 6:1-6; Philippians 2:5-11 Serving our Lord, each other, and our community. To find meaningful and significant ways to serve each other and our local community as an expression of Christ’s servant heart.
Prayer – Proseuche – Matthew 21:13; Ephesians 6:18. ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’. All life and ministry will have prayer as its foundation, both individually and corporately.

Compassion of Jesus –

Matt 9:35-38 –
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

How We Do Ministry

To minister from a humble attitude of service and devotion. John 15:13 “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Matthew 20:28 “even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
To minister out of the compassion of Christ’s heart. Matt 14:14 “As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.”
To model for others Christian leadership. 2 Tim 1:13 “Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”
To minister from a heart of obedience. Phil. 2:5-8 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Kingdom Principles We Value

Bringing Christ’s healing and salvation to the whole man: body, mind, and spirit. Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Encountering the presence of Christ in the sacraments of the Church, primarily at the Table of the Lord:
- Sacraments of Initiation/Maturation: Baptism, Eucharist, and ConfirmationSacraments of Vocation: Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders
- Sacraments of Healing: Reconciliation and Healing Unction
Three streams that make one mighty river of the Life in Christ – Sacramental, Evangelical, and Charismatic dimensions of the Church lived out in our life together and to the world
Our parish life is built on Relationships. First, to God our Father through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit and second to each other and the community around us. Together we live out Christ’s life to each other and to those around us.
Apostolic teaching/preaching founded upon the Holy Scriptures and continuing witness of the historic Church (Ancient Roots)
Apostolic fellowship with one another centered around our relationship with our episcopal covering, our bishop
The Five-Fold Ministry gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Luke 4:11-13). The church is established and built by apostolic teams.
Equipping the next generation – we are challenged to pass off an active and living faith in Christ, training up young leaders and releasing young people into places of maturity and ministry
Consensus Government – in humility, hearing God together and through each other to lead the people of God. We are a house of prayer at all levels of government, desiring to hear the voice of God. Decisions are made in council upon coming to consensus. The church is administered by the orders of Bishops, Priests, Deacons and Laity. All baptized Christians are ministers of the church.
Strong parish leadership – with our parish being guided by our rector and council and ministries being led by an active parish council, all of God’s people will be engaged in all of God’s work
Heart of worship – John 4 – the Father is looking for true worshippers who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth
Hearing God’s Prophetic voice – we looking for the voice of the Lord to be spoken, heard, and obeyed in our day
Sanctity of all human life. We believe in the sacredness of life as given by God from conception to natural death and all time in between
Strong families – the church supports the primary role of parents in training children in the Lord

We recognize the Harvest Principle of Kingdom Growth

Identify – Helping you identify with Christ and His Church
Involve – When you identify with Christ, you will involve yourself in the life of Christ in the local parish
Invest – What you involve yourself in, you begin to make an invest of your time, talent, and treasure in ministry within the church and the sphere of influence He has placed you
Increase – Your investment leads to an increase in the Kingdom of God

Discipleship Process

Membership – Knowing Christ
Maturity – Growing in Christ
Ministry – Serving Christ
Mission – Proclaiming Christ

Long term vision

4-5 parishes with 150-200 members each in the San Antonio area (no more than 20 minutes to a parish)
Centralized activities: training/equipping seminars, healing meetings, men/women/youth events, administrative support
Clergy support/collegiality
Raising up new clergy (priests/deacons) to establish the new parishes/support need of additional clergy across the diocese/CEC: connection to St Michael Seminary and The Urban Ministry Institute

For the next year

Strategy development through a partnership with World Impact/The Urban Ministry Institute
Pray, worship and share in the table of the Lord/Presence of Jesus (Holy Eucharist)
Add core team members – mature Christians: disciplers, teachers, mentors/spiritual mothers and fathers, evangelists, musicians/worshipers
Make additional connections with local universities and seminaries – Have full time Christ Mission College student interns each semester
Evangelize those without Christ, baptized but disconnected from a faith community: outreach and relationship
Catechize new believers/team
Launch weekly corporate Eucharistic worship service
Raise Seed Money/Support – on-going
Intercessory Prayer Team strategy/development – in place
Legal/organization/administrative work – Completed