Who is Essential?
First and foremost, we are a church for people who feel church isn’t for them.
We won’t hold your problems against you, because we have a lot of problems too.
We want to help each other work through our problems, not condemn people for their problems.
This is a place for nerds and dorks; a place for people who are afraid and divorced; a place for people with issues and insecurity; a place for those who have achieved, but who still feel empty; a place for the poor, the rich-but-restless, the stressed, and the tired…
We don’t just attend. We belong.
Churches that use people for their money infuriate us.
Churches that talk too much about politics are off-putting and ridiculous to us too.
Let us be clear: our church has plenty of problems. We’re nowhere near perfect, but we are intentional about making our church a safe place to explore God.
Here is what we offer.
We can help you love.
We can help you have more joy.
We will guide you in finding more peace. We’re learning how to be more patient, kind, and faithful.
We will help you find life’s purpose.
We will help you find friends. We can help stretch and challenge you.
Most importantly, we’ll share what we’ve learned about a God who, not only exists, but who wants to spend time with you.
We’ll show you how to join our community.
But first you’ve got to show up. We’re a church where it doesn’t matter what you wear. We just ask you to wear something.
During the services, there will be live music (feel free to sing along or just observe). Then, there will be a teaching from the Bible. There aren’t many rules here. And there will be no expectation for you to do anything. When we make plans for the weekend, we anticipate new people and do our best to make sure no one feels awkward.
There is a children’s ministry for birth through 5th grade at our Sunday services. All adults in the kids area are background checked. We want you and your kids to feel safe here.
What we value
A Safe Place to Explore Jesus—Anyone can come and explore Jesus at Essential. We will war against cliques, judgmental attitudes, and unnecessary boundaries keeping people from Jesus. The Gospel is taught accurately and without a judgmental attitude. Everything we do must be understandable for someone who is not a Bible scholar.
Being Guided by the Bible—We understand truth by a fair, intellectually honest understanding of the Bible. The Bible guides our decisions, large and small. We make a big deal about the things the Bible makes a big deal of.
Being Excellent & Intimate—We believe one of the best things we have going for us as a church is that we provide the intimacy of a smaller church with the quality and excellence of a larger church. We want to bring this value to the 5 purposes of a church: worship, teaching, serving, missions, and community.
Real Friendships—One of the hallmarks of Jesus followers is that they develop genuine friendships. We also know that if a new person at Essential does not develop one or two genuine friendships within six months of attending, that person will never feel quite at home here, or any other church they visit. The Bible mentions “the one anothers” over one hundred times (i.e., love one another, serve one another, rejoice with one another, etc.). As we commit to the “one anothers,” real friendships develop.
Generosity—Those of us who are all-in with Jesus give back our first and our best to God. As a church, we put our money where our mouth is. As Jesus followers, we recognize that God gave us His best. When Jesus followers put God first in their budgeting, we fuel the ministry we are able to do here in the Rocket City and beyond. As a result of generosity, people are loved, served, and encouraged in following God.
Serving Our Community—We want to be our neighbors’ best neighbor. We want our community to love that we are here. We believe one of the primary ways this happens is when we apply Jesus’ words that He “came not to be served, but to serve.” Christians should be known as servants.
Essential Anti-Values
We stand against self-righteousness—Throughout the Bible, we see Jesus spent most of his time with two types of people: the self-righteous religious and the sinners. It was generally the sinners who humbled themselves and accepted Christ. It was the self-righteous who resisted Christ at every move. Essential Church stands as a beacon for humbled sinners to come together to become disciples of Jesus. Essential Church will resist self-righteousness. We recognize that the greatest source of self-righteousness comes from pride within.
We stand against being distracted—Focusing on the wrong things is as dangerous as standing against the right things. Common distractions are a craving for physical pleasure, a desire for more and more, and pride in our own achievements and possessions. Distracted Christians are those who have allowed something or someone to take God’s place in their hearts.
We stand against proud arrogance—With open arms, we welcome anyone in our community. In order to protect the incredible community we have, we must watch for and address arrogance. Proud arrogance is present when we look down on someone who is poor, think judgmentally towards someone who is trying to work through their sin, or attempt to re-explain the Bible to allow for our arrogance.
Your Next Steps
Come and check it out!
Our church building is located at 801 Beirne Avenue Northeast, Huntsville, AL 35801. You can also join us online here.
Our services are Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 8:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. All services last about an hour. Choose which one works best for you!
It’s dark. It’s loud. It smells like coffee.
And we love it.
For any questions, please email info@essential.fyi or call (256) 653-1865
We think you’re going to like it here
