church profile - Bayside of South Sacramento

church profile
Our Mission…
Bayside of South Sacramento is a diverse church,
committed to life change by reaching the lost,
teaching believers and releasing leaders to serve.
Our Vision…
Is to be a healthy, radically inclusive church
community that exists to make and multiply Christ
followers in the South Sacramento area and beyond.
We are Bayside of South Sacramento
Our friends call us BOSS. That’s the first clue that
we may be a little different kind of church than
what you may be used to…
BOSS Church was founded in 2005 and is located in Sacramento, California. We are part of the
Pacific Southwest Conference of the Evangelical
Covenant Church. Each weekend, we average
approximately 750 adults and children over three
weekend services. Until recently, BOSS has been a
mobile church, meeting in two locations.
We are the most diverse church in the most
diverse city in America1.
Sacramento is the capital of California and is
located in Sacramento County. With an estimated
population of nearly 500,000, Sacramento is the
sixth-largest city in California and the 35th largest
1
Sacramento was cited by Time magazine as America’s most
ethnically and racially integrated city in 2002.
city in the United States. The greater Sacramento
metropolitan area includes seven counties with
an estimated population of more than 2.5 million.
A recent Gallup poll listed Sacramento as one of
the top ten cities in America in terms of the
number of unchurched adults and lowest share
of self-identified Christians.2
Our Response
Truly, we are poised and called to respond to the
needs of our city. But what does that mean?
First, we are intentional about diversity. It’s part of
our DNA.
Second, we are an urban church – contemporary
and progressive in our thinking and how we
minister, but firmly grounded in the Bible. We
are committed to our city—we are not a church
whose goal is to move to the suburbs. We are
bold and intentional about serving—going where
other churches may not care to go. We look for
ways to integrate into our community by partnering with civic, community organizations and law
enforcement.
BOSS Church—Who are we, really?
If you’ve not yet worshiped with us, how can we
communicate to you who we really are in words
on a page or lines on a website?
2
http://djchuang.com/2011/least-churched-cities-in-america
Who could better help you understand
who we are than our congregation? When
we asked them to describe what makes
BOSS unique, this is what they said:
•
BOSS means community, transparency and diversity. We welcome the
unwelcome in the name of Jesus—all
races and colors—the way it will be in
heaven. Our uniqueness is our diversity,
and service to people in the community.
•
BOSS makes it possible for people whose
paths might not normally cross to come
together to praise to the Lord without
passing judgment on each other.
•
We are committed to being led by the
“Big Boss”—God. We are battle tested
and evangelical. We have rough edges,
but servant’s hearts. We don’t quit—we
keep pressing!
•
We are a family style church—very
loving and warm. We put prayer first.
We are a cross-cultural and multigenerational church with families of
all types–traditional, single parents,
blended families, you name it.
•
When it comes to serving, we don’t just
talk about it, we DO it. We are mobile.
We go where the needs are.
•
The friendliness, warmth and down-toearth Word-based atmosphere make
us unique.
•
We are serious when we need to be, but
we never take ourselves too seriously.
•
BOSS is a church of worship. BOSS is
a church of the community. BOSS is a
church that welcomes. BOSS is a church
that gives.
Our Legacy
We come from good people. Our founding pastor,
Bishop Sherwood Carthen was not only our
spiritual leader and pastor, he was our friend. So
much of who we are is the direct result of the
vision God planted in his heart. Pastor Sherwood
founded our church in 2005, and with help of the
Covenant and Bayside of Granite Bay, BOSS
quickly became one of the fastest growing
churches in America. Our dear Pastor Sherwood
passed away on September 25, 2013.
He left this world too soon, and the loss is still
fresh for us. To say we miss him is the biggest
understatement you could possibly imagine. And
yet, there are many lessons in his passing.
When Pastor Sherwood died, the entire community mourned because his impact was well beyond
the walls of his church. The Sacramento Bee said
his passing left a “grateful city” for the help and
encouragement he gave us. Because of his life
and legacy, we are a “kinder, healthier, more stable
city…we need more people to be like him.”
Pastor Sherwood offered himself and BOSS in
service to many para-church and community
organizations. That’s our desire for BOSS—that
we continue to make an impact outside our walls,
standing for the issues that God would stand for in
a lost and hurting community so that our impact
is felt, noticed and if removed, that our footprint
would be sorely missed.
Another lesson is the reminder that God is our
leader, and though we miss Pastor Sherwood,
we are more dedicated than ever to honoring his
legacy by giving our love and support to the next
leader that God has for us. That God passes the
mantle from one ordained servant to the next is
Biblical and part of His plan—from Elijah to Elisha.
From John the Baptist to Jesus—transitions are
part of the journey and we are humbly, prayerfully
and with a sense of joy and anticipation seeking a
leader—as unique as our ministry—to take up the
BOSS mantle.
Church Leadership
The head of our church is Jesus Christ. As a church
organization, we seek to reflect His priorities in all
we do and how we do it. We seek to never make a
decision that would knowingly contradict any of
Jesus’ teaching. We diligently seek God’s vision for
us as a church.
Two groups of people direct the ministries and
lead the congregation at BOSS—the BOSS
Leadership Team (BLT) and the staff. The BLT
guards the vision of the church, while the staff
guides the church and makes the day-to-day
ministry decisions.
How does BOSS impact our community?
There are three major components to our mission
at BOSS:
Reach: We want to reach people with the love
and grace of God in Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20).
We want to embrace and develop relationships
with unbelieving, unchurched people to meet
their immediate needs and build a meaningful
and creative bridge to engage them in a worshipful environment and spiritual experience at BOSS.
Teach: We want to teach believers the
importance of the Word of God in their lives and
help them to become self-feeders and
kingdom-builders (2 Timothy 2:15). We offer
biblically based teaching through our weekend
worship services and student and children’s
ministries. We help people to grow spiritually by
encouraging participation in Community Groups,
equipping classes and spiritual growth workshops.
Release: We want to develop believers to reach
their leadership potential and equip and empower them to use their spiritual gifts and talents to
serve in faithful ministry inside the church,
in the community and throughout the world
(1 Corinthians 12). We want BOSS partners to
become all that God has created them to be and
to fulfill His purpose by using their time, talents
and treasures to serve in ministry in order to win
more souls to Jesus Christ.
How does our mission play out in real life?
We believe that church is not a museum for
showcasing the saints but a hospital for serving
the sick—a place where we all can find transformation—spiritually, financially, emotionally and
physically. Service is a huge part of living our
mission, and at BOSS, we believe there is an
appropriate place for everyone to serve and that
service is part of the growth process.
Our Diversity: We understand that each individual
is unique. This uniqueness can be seen along the
dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age and physical abilities.
In fact, we believe that you’ll quickly appreciate
the fact that “not everyone looks like me” and yet,
there are plenty who do. This is what makes BOSS
a safe, positive, and nurturing environment.
We have many active ministries at BOSS:
Adult Worship Services: Currently, we have three
dynamic, enjoyable weekend services that offer
contemporary worship music and relevant biblical
messages. We invite everyone to come as they are,
to expect the unexpected.
Children’s Ministry: Kids are incredibly important
to us! children, age kindergarten through sixth
grade enjoy age-appropriate activities and biblical
teaching—all designed in a creative setting just for
them. Caring nursery volunteers also provide safe,
quality care and teaching for infants and toddlers.
Student Ministry: We’re a diverse community
of students committed to honest relationships,
accepting environments and authentic faith. Our
ministry is wired for fun, fellowship and a healthy
dose of the gospel and encourages our students to
build stronger relationships with God and others.
Community Groups: Community groups are
where smaller groups of the BOSS family come
together on a regular basis to grow spiritually,
receive support, develop relationships and serve
in the community. We currently have nearly 40
active community groups that meet throughout
the week all over Sacramento and online.
Adult Ministry: We encourage men and women
at BOSS to strengthen their relationships with
God and others through exciting, gender-specific
connection events, community groups and
in-depth Bible studies.
Leadership Development: The heart of our
missional church is the desire to help people
become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
Through L-E-A-D (Leading and Equipping Leaders
to Advance the Kingdom through Discipleship),
we offer training and workshops aimed to deploy
leaders to fulfill their God-given purpose.
Outreach: We are passionate about empowering
people to reach our community and our world. We
meet new people by providing a variety of events
that connect people to BOSS and introduce them
to the love and hope of Jesus Christ.
Prayer and Community Care: Prayer is the
foundation of everything we do at BOSS. We
have a prayer table at every service where people can immediately pray with a team member
and meet weekly for corporate prayer. We also
provide assistance in the form of care, prayer and
resources to those who are hurting, hospitalized or
who are going through difficult life situations.
Celebrate Recovery®: Every Friday at Celebrate
Recovery (CR), people experience freedom from
addictive behaviors, hurts, hang-ups and habits
through God’s healing power. CR also provides
participants the opportunity to connect with
others who have been or may be dealing with
some of the same life situations.
Compassion: BOSS is passionate about making
a lasting impact in our community. Through a
variety of social justice and service projects and
working with our community partners, we touch
thousands of people in the midst of economic
crisis and homelessness, as well as at-risk children
and adults transitioning out of life’s difficult issues.
churches, with an impact that leads from our
backyard to the world. We want to be credible: a
place the world can look to for biblical answers
to worldly problems — addressing injustice by
serving God in non-political, biblical ways.
We want BOSS to be a church that truly reflects
the diversity of our city—a well-pruned tree that
is bearing much fruit. We want to become a center
of hope, where people will not only find a place
to connect and grow, but a place where they will
feel God’s love and learn how to share His love and
compassion with the hurting people in
South Sacramento.
And finally, what’s not unique about us…
Our Most Important Ministries Are
Located Outside Our Walls
We believe in equipping our family at church
so that they are fully trained to minister outside
church, and as a result, much of our ministry takes
place in the community. Typical outreach can
take many forms —we adopt schools, we feed the
homeless, we serve at women’s shelters, we
tutor at local schools, and we participate in a
neighborhood safety program called Night WalkTM,
during which we spend Saturday nights serving
and praying with people in the streets of high
crime neighborhoods. We also participate in
Winter Sanctuary, a city-wide effort to house and
feed the homeless during the cold winter months.
Integrating into our community as we serve is part
of who we are at BOSS.
Our vision for the future
We are all about dreaming big. We envision
BOSS to be a church that becomes a hub for the
community—a place where service happens
all week but that also happens to hold worship
services on the weekends. We want a church that
may look like a church, but lives like what we find
in Acts 2:42-48. We see BOSS with thriving,
diverse ministries that meet the varied needs
of our community. Our dream is to be planting
So having spent this time sharing our uniqueness
with you, it’s important to also share where we are
NOT unique.
We embrace our commonality with the larger
body of Christ. We are His sheep; we go where He
leads, when He leads and with whom He directs to
lead us. We are not special–we are forgiven. We
are part of a larger flock with whom we share a
common dependence on Christ and a universal
need for His grace and forgiveness. We are here on
family business and we hope you will join us!
Is your heart beating a little faster? Maybe God has
a big change in store for you…and us!
If you want to know more or are interested in
pursuing the opportunity to lead us, send
your cover letter and resume to pastorsearch@
bossonline.org with links to your sermons and
outlines or mail them with at least two preaching
CDs to the address below. If you are not a
Covenant pastor, submit a response to the
Covenant Affirmations with your application.
Bayside Church of South Sacramento
Attn: Pastor Search Team
6524 44th Street #208
Sacramento, CA 95823
BOSS Church Pastor Search Team
Sharon Franz, Chair
pastorsearch@bossonline.org