About
Becoming a community of disciples that embodies Jesus in Memphis.
Our Values
Liturgy
Participating together in the Church’s worship of God.
When we gather to worship God, we join with the Church throughout the world and throughout time. We aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel. We simply worship God in the ways the Church has always worshiped.
Sacrament
Encountering the real presence of Christ.
Every human has a deep hunger that can only be satisfied in communion with God through Jesus in the Church. Through the sacraments, we encounter Jesus in real and transformative ways, and he fully satisfies the hunger of our hearts.
Formation
Growing deep as followers of Jesus.
Everyone follows someone or something. In a consumeristic culture, we take seriously Jesus’s call to follow him, not just to know about him intellectually, but to orient our entire lives around Jesus.
Hospitality
Demonstrating the kindness of God.
As we experience the welcome and embrace of God, we’re transformed to be a radically hospitable people. In an overly-individualistic and increasingly lonely culture, we open our homes and our lives to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Service
Sacrificially giving of ourselves.
Jesus sacrificially gave of himself, so we follow in his example by sacrificially serving our neighbors, our city, and our world. In a self-centered culture, we observe the needs of others and seek to love as Christ loves.
Beauty
Reflecting the beauty of God in all we do.
“The heavens declare the glory of God!” (Psalm 19:1). God is infinitely beautiful, so we value beauty as a gift from God and seek to reflect his beauty in our worship, our work, our recreation, and all of our lives.
Our Process
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During the Gathering Phase, our main objective is to generate awareness and interest. In a sense, we never move on from this phase, but in the early days of church planting this receives special attention and effort. During this phase, we hosted lots of events like Church Plant Interest Meetings, cookouts, and other ways to gather people and share the vision of what God is calling us to in Memphis.
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During the Launch Team Phase, our main objective is to grow and develop a Launch Team, the group of people committed to planting this new church together. The Launch Team meets regularly to pray, study Scripture, grow together, serve together, and work towards officially launching this new church. We also host regular high-invitation events to form connections with people who might want to join us in this work. Interested in discussing joining the Launch Team? Contact us!
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During the Pre-Launch Phase, our main objective is to host preview worship services in preparation for officially launching weekly worship services. The goal for preview worship services is ultimately to honor God with reverent worship, but also to invite friends and neighbors to experience what our worship services are like. We’ll continue to grow our Launch Team, which will multiply into community groups to continue to cultivate deep community and prepare for community structures to be in place in time for the Launch Phase.
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It’s finally time to launch weekly official worship services! Our objective in planting a church is not just to plant a worship service, but rather to form a healthy congregation. So launching weekly worship services is a huge deal, but it’s only one part of our church’s life together. During this phase, we’ll also participate in discipleship and community. We’ll serve our city. Each of our values will be expressed in our life together.
Our Beliefs
Holy Scripture and the Great Tradition of the Church inform what we believe.
As an Anglican church, our beliefs are not unique. In the words of C. S. Lewis, one of the most famous Anglicans of the twentieth century, Anglicanism is simply mere Christianity. Therefore, our beliefs are best summarized in the ancient creeds of the historic Church: the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed.
Learn more about the beliefs of the Anglican Church in North America.
Our Affiliation
Church of the Incarnation is connected to a family of more than 80 million Anglicans worldwide. We’re a part of the Anglican Diocese of the South and the Anglican Church in North America.