About Us

We are a family of disciples, making disciples.

What's a disciple? What does it mean to make disciples? Can I just come to church?

We're glad you asked!

First of all, YES, we welcome everyone to join us in our worship gatherings on Sundays. It doesn't matter who you are, what you believe or what you wear - you are invited and welcome!

But about that whole disciple-making disciple thing...

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20

Practicing the Way of Jesus.

We're not trying to get super creative or market something. We're trying to live faithfully in the ways that Jesus laid out for us to live as citizen of His Kingdom. While on this earth, Jesus invited a group of people to follow him and learn from him. They walked with Jesus, saw how He lived, who He healed and loved. For three years, He modeled an upside down sort of life - a last shall be first, go the extra mile, serve the least and last and lost, sort of life. And then he told them to go do the same thing - to go live like him and teach others what it looks like to trust Jesus, to love Him and to obey Him. He wasn't just a really great model of morality though, He made it possible for all of humanity to be reconciled to our Creator. Through his life, death & resurrection, Jesus made it possible for us to be called sons & daughters of God, and to live as witnesses to the world around us of the goodness of God and the joy that is found in living our lives the way He intended.

For 2,000+ years, followers of Jesus have been doing that very thing. It's taken different forms in different places. And that's why we exist - to continue that work of proclaiming the Good News to all nations.

You're invited to join God's family...and our family. We'd love to hear your story, share ours, and learn together how to trust, love and obey Jesus.

Our Elder Team

Northwest is an Elder led church. Our elder team is made up of staff (paid) and lay (non-paid) elders. Each of these men are called to the Biblical role of shepherd and affirmed in their role by our church family.

Our staff elders function as a lead pastoral team, each providing oversight and leadership of specific areas of our ministry, while working collaboratively with the rest of the elder team, staff team, and one another to shepherd and guide our church. Each of the elders shares equal responsibility & authority in leading our church, while submitting to one another in areas of responsibility and giftedness. As Staff Elders, David, Matt and Ryan, spend significantly more time each week in their areas of responsibility, while gratefully submitting to the authority of the elder team as a whole.

If you have questions about our leadership model, we'd love to discuss it more with you in person or at a "Discover NW" event.

David Amann

Staff Elder

Brian Cross

Lay Elder

Will Langdon

Lay Elder

Ronnie Lowe

Lay Elder

Matt Rice

Staff Elder

Ryan Semchenko

Staff Elder

Our Staff Team

David Amann

Executive Pastor

Theresa Ballinger

Director of NW Kids

Ghazelle Lee

Ministry Assistant

Scott Luchene

Director of Worship

Matt Rice

Teaching, Connections & Care Pastor

Ryan Semchenko

Teaching & Life Groups Pastor

Matt Trebing

Director of NW Students

What We Believe

The Bible

The sole basis of our belief is the Bible, composed of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that Scripture in its entirety originated with God, and that He chose certain people to write it. Scripture thus, at one and the same time, speaks with the authority of God and reflects the backgrounds, styles, and vocabularies of the human authors (2 Tim. 3:16-17, 1 Peter 1:10-12, 2 Peter 1:20-21).

We hold that the Scriptures are infallible and without error in the original writings. They are the unique, full and final authority on all matters of faith and practice, and there are no other writings similarly inspired by God (Matt. 5:17-20).

God

We believe there is one, true, holy God, eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of deity and characteristics of personality (Deut. 6:4-5, Matt. 28:19).

In the beginning, God created, out of nothing, the world and all the things therein, thus manifesting the glory of His infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. By His sovereign power He continues to sustain His creation and to fulfill His redemptive purposes (Gen. 1:1-2, John 1:1-2, Acts 17:28, Heb. 1:3). God possesses perfect knowledge of all things, past, present, and future, including all human thoughts, acts, and decisions.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the eternal second person of the Trinity who was united forever with a true human nature by the miraculous conception of the Holy Spirit, being born of a virgin. Thus He is fully God and fully Man (John 1:1-2, Luke 1:26-37).

He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father and voluntarily atoned for the sins of all by dying on the cross as their substitute, a sacrifice for sin, and as a propitiation of the wrath of God toward sin, according to the Scriptures. Thus, He satisfied divine justice and accomplished salvation for all who trust in Him alone (Heb. 4:14-16; 10:5-18).

He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father, where He, the only Mediator between God and Man, continually makes intercession for His own. He will come again to earth, personally and visibly, to consummate history and the eternal plan of God (Luke 24, 1 Tim. 2:5-6, Heb. 7:23-25, Acts 1:11, 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, was sent into the world by the Father and the Son to apply to mankind the saving work of Christ. He enlightens the mind of sinners, awakens in them a recognition of their need of a Savior, and regenerates them (John 3:5-8, John 16:7-15).

At the point of salvation, He permanently indwells every believer to become the source of assurance, strength, and wisdom, and uniquely endows each believer with gifts for the building up of His people. The Holy Spirit guides believers in understanding and applying the Scriptures. His power and control are appropriated by faith, making it possible for the believer to lead a life of Christ-like character and to bear fruit to the glory of the Father (John 14:16-18, 1 Cor. 12:13, Gal. 5:22-25, Eph. 1:13-14, Eph. 5:18).

Humanity

All human beings are created in God’s image, and therefore have intrinsic dignity and worth. God made humans male and female to have a relationship with Him and to rule over and care for His creation for His glory. He established marriage as the one flesh union between one man and one woman. (Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:18-25; Genesis 9:5-6; Matthew 19:3-9)

The central purpose of God’s revelation in Scripture is to call all people into fellowship with Himself. Originally created in God’s image to have fellowship with God, man defied God, choosing to go his independent way. He thus became sinful, suffering alienation from God and the corruption of his human nature (John 5:39-40,Eph. 2:1-3).

Salvation

The fall of mankind took place at the beginning of human history, and all individuals since have suffered these consequences and are thus in need of the saving grace of God. The salvation of mankind is, then, wholly a work of God’s free grace, not the result, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness, and must be personally appropriated by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ (Gen. 3, Rom. 3:9-26, Rom. 5:12, Eph. 2: 4-10).

We believe salvation is all of grace, through faith, in Christ alone, for God’s glory alone! Sinners are commanded to believe the Gospel, and the church is commissioned to preach and teach the Gospel to all nations. Salvation comes to those who truly believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We believe that while there is continuity between the covenants of the Bible, there is a distinction between law and grace, and the true Gospel exalts Christ’s atoning work as the consummate and perfect fulfillment of the law.

Church

Upon accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, a believer becomes part of His body, which is the church. There is one church universal, composed of all those throughout the world who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Scriptures command believers to gather (local church) in order to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, observance of the ordinances (baptism and communion), fellowship, service to the body through the development and use of talents and gifts, and outreach to the world in fulfillment of the command of Christ to make disciples of all believers (Ephesians 5:23; Romans 12:1; Acts 2:42-46; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Matthew 28:18-20). Wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the church under the oversight of elders and other supportive leadership. The church’s members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16).

We believe that God’s purpose for the world is evident in faithful local churches (Ephesians 3:8-10). Thus growth in Christ for the individual believer can not take place apart from a local church. Each faithful local church displays God’s glory as it seeks to serve Him in humble service to its members and as it cooperates in fellowship and ministry participation with other congregations that value the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Heaven, Hell, and the Return of Christ

We believe in the blessed hope-the imminent, literal, physical and personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth (Titus 2:11-14). His return has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost. The saved are raised to eternal, conscious enjoyment of God and His recreation of the new heavens and new earth (Matthew 25:34; John 14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Revelation 2:7; 21:1-2). The lost are raised to eternal torment in Hell in conscious separation from God (Matthew 8:11; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 13:49-50; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 12:5; Revelation 21:8).

We believe that our only sure and confident hope is in the certain promises of God. Therefore, our future hope, which causes us to live in faith in the present, is grounded in our confidence that God will bring all things to consummation in a manner that will bring the greatest glory to His name, the greatest preeminence to His Son, and the greatest joy to His people!

Baptism and Communion

Jesus commands his disciples to be baptized as a public declaration that we have repented from our sins and are trusting in Him alone as Savior and Lord. In Baptism, the believer is immersed in water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is a sign that the believer has been united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, cleansed of sin, and raised to new life as a member of the family of God (Colossians 2:12, Galatians 3:26-27, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 8:36-39, Matthew 28:19, Acts 18:8, 1 Corinthians 12:13).

Likewise, Jesus commands his disciples to eat bread, signifying His body, and drink the cup, signifying the new covenant in His blood, when we gather together. In doing this, we remember and proclaim His redemptive death for us on the cross, commemorate the fellowship we have with each other, and look forward to His return (Luke 22:14-23, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 11:17-26).