WILLS VALLEY
COMMUNITY CHURCH
ABOUT US
Wills Valley Community Church exists to glorify God by bringing people to Christ, helping believers grow toward Christ-like maturity, equipping them for ministry, and sending them into the world to make disciples.
In 2003, after pastoring two churches, Denny Mashburn was joined by Jeff Nelson, Patrick McMinn, and a handful of families to begin Wills Valley Community Church in Denny’s home. Within just a few months, more than 100 people were gathering in what became affectionately known as “The Basement.”
Soon afterward, God brought about something very special. Faith Baptist Church, under the leadership of Barry Northcutt, joined together with Wills Valley Community Church. The two congregations became one church family and began meeting at the former Faith Baptist Church location on Isbell Boulevard.
Our motto, “Pursuing God’s purposes and expecting greater things,” continues to express our desire as a church.
Today, our Pastors/Elders desire that Wills Valley Community Church be a Christ-centered, Scripture-governed church that depends upon the Holy Spirit and is committed to the faithful teaching and application of God’s Word.
We want to be a church where people come to know Christ, grow in their understanding of Scripture, build meaningful relationships with other believers, discover how God has gifted them to serve, and live faithfully for His glory.
OUR VISION
OUR VALUES
The purpose of Wills Valley Community Church is to magnify God’s name by bringing people to Christ and membership in His family, developing them toward Christ-like maturity, and equipping them for their ministry in the church and their mission in the world.
At Wills Valley Community Church, we value:
Worship that is grounded in truth and dependent upon the Holy Spirit.
Changed lives that demonstrate the transforming power of God’s grace.
Caring relationships through genuine fellowship, encouragement, compassion, and service.
Church health and spiritual growth as believers mature in Christ and faithfully use their gifts to build up the body.
God’s glory as the ultimate purpose of everything we believe and do.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
The Bible
We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is completely trustworthy, authoritative, and sufficient for what we believe and how we live.
Scripture is our final authority for doctrine, worship, church life, and Christian living.
Because God has spoken through His Word, we seek to study it carefully, teach it faithfully, obey it personally, and allow it to shape every area of our lives.
God
We believe there is one true and living God who eternally exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God is holy, sovereign, all-knowing, all-powerful, perfectly just, perfectly loving, and worthy of all worship and glory.
He created all things and continually sustains and rules over His creation according to His perfect wisdom and purposes.
Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, lived a completely sinless life, willingly died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, physically rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will personally return.
Jesus Christ is the only Savior and the only mediator between God and mankind.
Humanity and Sin
We believe every person is created in the image of God and therefore possesses inherent dignity and value.
We also believe that because of mankind’s fall into sin, every person is a sinner by nature and by choice.
Sin affects every part of our being and separates us from a holy God. No person can make himself or herself right with God through morality, religious activity, good works, personal effort, or human wisdom.
Apart from God’s grace, we are spiritually unable to rescue ourselves and are completely dependent upon His mercy.
Salvation
We believe salvation is the work of God from beginning to end.
Before the foundation of the world, God graciously purposed to redeem a people for Himself through Jesus Christ—not because of anything deserving in us, but according to His own mercy, wisdom, love, and grace.
The Gospel is to be freely proclaimed to all people, calling every person to repent of sin and believe in Jesus Christ.
When God saves a person, the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life, opens the heart to the truth of the Gospel, and brings that person to repentance and faith.
Those who trust in Christ are forgiven, declared righteous before God, adopted into His family, and given eternal life.
Salvation is not earned, initiated, or completed by human effort. Our salvation rests entirely upon the grace of God and the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The Security and Perseverance of Believers
We believe those whom God truly saves are kept by His power.
The Christian life includes growth, struggle, correction, repentance, discipline, and perseverance. Genuine believers continue in faith because God remains faithful to the work He has begun in them.
Our confidence is not ultimately in our ability to hold onto God, but in His ability to preserve His people.
THE 5 SOLAS
The historic truths commonly known as the Five Solas help summarize important convictions at the heart of the Gospel.
Scripture Alone
The Bible is the inspired, inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for Christian faith and practice.
We do not believe additional revelation or human tradition carries authority equal to Scripture.
Christ Alone
Jesus Christ alone is the basis of our salvation and reconciliation with God.
No other mediator, religious system, personal achievement, or human effort can accomplish what Christ accomplished through His life, death, and resurrection.
Faith Alone
We are justified before God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Our acceptance with God is not earned by good works. Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the basis of it.
Grace Alone
Every part of salvation—from its beginning to its completion—is the result of God’s grace.
Human merit and effort contribute nothing to earning salvation.
To the Glory of God Alone
God alone deserves the glory for salvation and for every good thing accomplished through His people.
We therefore desire to live, worship, serve, and minister in a way that magnifies Him above all else.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe the Holy Spirit is fully God and is actively at work in the world and in the lives of believers.
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, gives spiritual life, indwells every believer, produces spiritual fruit, gives gifts for service, illuminates the truth of Scripture, and empowers believers to live faithfully for Christ.
The Christian life cannot be lived successfully through human strength alone. We are called to walk in daily dependence upon the Holy Spirit as He works through the Word of God to transform us increasingly into the likeness of Christ.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
We believe the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to believers for the strengthening and building up of the church.
Every Christian has a place of service within the body of Christ, and every gift is to be exercised humbly for the good of others and the glory of God rather than for personal recognition.
We also believe that certain miraculous and revelatory gifts served a unique purpose during the foundational ministry of Christ’s apostles and the establishment of the early church.
God has given His church the completed Scriptures as our sufficient and authoritative revelation.
We fully believe that God remains sovereign and powerful and that He may heal, intervene, and perform miracles according to His will. At the same time, we do not believe that ongoing prophetic revelation, tongues, or apostolic sign gifts are the ordinary pattern for the church today.
THE CHURCH
We believe the Church is made up of all those who have genuinely trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation.
The local church is a body of believers who gather for worship, biblical teaching, prayer, fellowship, communion, discipleship, service, and Gospel ministry.
Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.
Every believer is a minister and is called to use the gifts, abilities, resources, and opportunities God has provided for the building up of the body and the advancement of the Gospel.
We believe the church should function as a spiritual family rather than simply an organization. We desire to cultivate relationships marked by love, unity, humility, encouragement, accountability, compassion, and service.
BAPTISM
We practice baptism by immersion for those who have personally repented of sin and placed their faith in Jesus Christ.
Baptism does not save a person. Rather, it is an act of obedience and a public testimony of faith that pictures the believer’s identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Because baptism follows personal faith in Christ, we baptize those who are able to personally confess their faith and testify to God’s saving work in their lives.
THE LORD’S SUPPER
We observe the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Christ and His sacrifice on our behalf.
The bread and cup remind believers of the body and blood of Jesus Christ and provide an opportunity for worship, thanksgiving, self-examination, and unity within the body of Christ.
CHRISTIAN LIVING
We believe followers of Jesus are called to lives of holiness, love, humility, obedience, generosity, and service.
Our desire is not merely to know biblical truth but to live it.
Christian growth takes place as believers depend upon the Holy Spirit, study and obey the Word of God, pray, worship, fellowship with other believers, serve others, and respond faithfully to God’s work in their lives.
We believe every Christian should increasingly reflect the character of Christ.
TELLING OTHERS ABOUT CHRIST
Jesus has entrusted His followers with the responsibility of making disciples.
We believe every Christian should be prepared to share the hope of the Gospel with others and should live in a way that points people toward Jesus Christ.
As a church, we are committed to proclaiming the Gospel in our community and throughout the world through personal evangelism, discipleship, missions, ministry partnerships, and the faithful support of those who take the Gospel to places we cannot personally go.
STEWARDSHIP AND GENEROSITY
We believe everything we possess ultimately belongs to God.
Followers of Christ should honor Him through faithful and generous stewardship of their time, abilities, finances, and possessions.
Giving is an act of worship and a tangible expression of gratitude, faith, and commitment to the work of God.
We encourage believers to give regularly, generously, joyfully, and sacrificially as God provides.
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
We believe men and women are created equally in the image of God, are equally valuable before Him, and are equally called to serve Christ and His church.
We also believe God has given men and women complementary roles within the home and the church.
According to our understanding of Scripture, the responsibility of serving as Pastor/Elder and exercising spiritual oversight and authoritative pastoral teaching over the gathered church is entrusted to biblically qualified men.
This does not diminish the importance of women in the life and ministry of the church. Women serve in many vital areas of ministry at WVCC, including serving as Deaconesses, teaching and discipling other women and children, caring for members of the church family, leading and serving in ministries, and using their spiritual gifts for the building up of the body.
Both men and women are essential to the health and ministry of the church and are called to faithfully use the gifts God has given them for the good of others and the glory of God.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
We believe God established marriage as a covenant relationship between one man and one woman.
Marriage is designed by God and is intended to reflect the faithful relationship between Christ and His Church.
We believe parents have the primary responsibility for the spiritual instruction and discipleship of their children, while the church comes alongside families to encourage, equip, and support them.
THE RETURN OF CHRIST
We believe Jesus Christ will personally and visibly return.
There will be a resurrection of the dead and a final judgment.
Those who belong to Christ will dwell with Him forever, and God’s purposes for His people and His creation will ultimately be fulfilled.
Our ultimate hope is not in this world but in Jesus Christ and the promises of God.
HOW WE ARE LED
Jesus Christ is the head of Wills Valley Community Church.
Under His authority, the church is led by biblically qualified Pastors/Elders who are entrusted with shepherding, teaching, protecting, praying for, and providing spiritual oversight for the congregation.
We understand the biblical terms Pastor, Elder, and Shepherd to describe different aspects of the same spiritual leadership responsibility. In keeping with our understanding of Scripture, the role of Pastor/Elder and the responsibility of exercising spiritual authority over the gathered church are entrusted to qualified men.
Deacons and Deaconesses
Wills Valley Community Church also recognizes qualified men and women who serve the church as Deacons and Deaconesses.
We understand these roles primarily as ministries of service rather than positions of governing or pastoral authority. Deacons and Deaconesses assist the Pastors/Elders and serve the church body by helping meet practical needs, caring for people, supporting ministries, and helping the church carry out its mission.
Men and women serve faithfully throughout the life and ministries of WVCC, using the gifts God has given them for the strengthening of the church and the glory of God.
The Pastors/Elders seek to lead through prayer, Scripture, wisdom, humility, unity, and careful consideration of what is best for the spiritual health of the church.
We believe every member of the body has been gifted by God for service. Rather than viewing ministry as something performed only by church leaders, we believe the people of the church are the ministers while Pastors/Elders equip, shepherd, and oversee the ministry.
Our desire is to maintain a simple church structure that maximizes ministry and keeps our focus on making disciples rather than maintaining an organization.
OUR CHURCH FAMILY
The New Testament describes the church in several important ways.
A Fellowship
We are called to pursue unity, encourage one another, worship together, pray together, study God’s Word together, and build relationships centered on Christ.
A Family
We seek to care for one another with genuine love, compassion, grace, patience, encouragement, and accountability.
A Body
Christ is the head, and every believer has a place of service.
God gives different gifts and abilities to His people so that together we may build one another up and accomplish the work He has given His church to do.
A Flock
Pastors/Elders serve as shepherds under the authority of Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, caring for and providing spiritual leadership for His people.
LOCAL CHURCH AUTONOMY
We believe Jesus Christ is the head of each local church.
Wills Valley Community Church is therefore self-governing and is not under the authority or control of a denominational organization.
At the same time, we believe churches can accomplish much together for the advancement of the Gospel. We voluntarily cooperate with other like-minded churches and ministries in missions, evangelism, theological education, disaster relief, church planting, and other Gospel-centered efforts.
OUR AFFILIATIONS
Wills Valley Community Church voluntarily cooperates with:
DeKalb Baptist Association
Local Baptist churches working together for Gospel ministry throughout DeKalb County.
Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions / Alabama Baptist Convention
Baptist churches cooperating together in evangelism, missions, church planting, ministry, and theological education throughout Alabama.
Southern Baptist Convention
A cooperative network of autonomous Baptist churches working together to support missions, theological education, church planting, evangelism, and other Gospel ministries in the United States and around the world.
Our affiliation with these organizations does not change the autonomy of our local church. Wills Valley Community Church remains governed locally under the leadership of Christ and the authority of Scripture.
OUR MISSION
Our desire is that people everywhere have the opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Whether across the street or across the world, we want to faithfully proclaim the Gospel, make disciples, strengthen churches, support missionaries, and equip believers to live on mission wherever God places them.
OUR DESIRE
At Wills Valley Community Church, we desire:
To know Christ more deeply.
To understand and obey His Word more faithfully.
To depend upon the Holy Spirit more fully.
To love and serve one another more genuinely.
To proclaim the Gospel more boldly.
To make disciples in our community and throughout the world.
And above all, to live for the glory of God.