About | Renewal Presbyterian Church Center City

Our Vision

To ignite a gospel-spreading movement through multiple local congregations in the greater Philadelphia area and the world, so that individuals, communities, and cultures are renewed in Christ.

To ignite a gospel-spreading movement…

We are passionate about seeing the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ transform lives throughout our city.

through multiple local congregations…

We believe that the progress of the gospel is most effectively accomplished by God through the local church that incarnates the gospel to their neighboring contexts. As one church, we believe we can best spread the gospel throughout our city and region through multiple local congregations (campuses and church plants).

in the greater Philadelphia area and the world…

Our prayer is to join God’s mission of spreading the saving message of Jesus Christ throughout the world. We believe we are called to join His work both in our Philadelphia region, and internationally through missions.

so that individuals, communities, and cultures are renewed in Christ.

We see gospel transformation as an outward spiral that renews individuals, brings about a transformative counter-cultural community as they come together, who then work as a united body to serve and be a faithful presence of renewal to their local communities. We desire to see this breadth and depth of gospel change at work.

Our Beliefs

What We Believe

Renewal is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). The PCA was formed as a denomination to be “faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission.”

The PCA is an Evangelical and Reformed Presbyterian denomination. By Evangelical, we mean that we emphasize the gospel (good news of salvation) through faith in Jesus Christ, as well as affirming other orthodox Christian doctrines and holding to the inerrancy of Scripture.

By Reformed, we mean that we are connected to the teachings of the historic church and the doctrinal beliefs recovered by the Reformation. These doctrinal beliefs are expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. All officers (elders and deacons) of the Presbyterian Church in America must personally subscribe to and uphold the teachings of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

By Presbyterian, we describe our representative form of church government. Local churches are governed by a “Session” of “presbyters” (elders), elected by the members of the congregation. Representatives of local churches within a geographical area compose a “presbytery.” Representatives of presbyteries meet annually at “General Assembly.” Thus, through the combined efforts and resources of all of the churches, we are enabled to advance God’s Kingdom much more effectively. The Committees and Agencies of the PCA help lead this Kingdom work.

Our Core Values

Our Foundation: The Gospel

The foundation and fuel of our core values is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is at the center of everything we are and do as a people.

What is the gospel? It is the astonishing good news that Jesus Christ as God became a man, and in our place lived the life we should have lived and died the death we deserve to die. His resurrection from the dead is the central event of human history, bringing the everlasting hope of heaven to the worst of sinners and renewal to our broken world. When we lovingly trust in Jesus and let go of our self-saving strategies (whether irreligious autonomy or moral “goodness”), we find true life, joy, peace, and purpose. We live our present lives in the hope and security of God’s gracious promises of the gospel.

Gospel Worship

The gospel transforms our relationship with God from one of hostility, dread, or indifference to one of reverent joy and intimate love. At the heart of the gospel is the enjoyment and praise of God in worship and prayer as we behold His worth and beauty. In our services, we value worship that is God-centered and Christ-exalting, preaching that is expository (explaining the text of Scripture) and gospel-centered (expounding all biblical themes as climaxing in Christ and his work of salvation), and prayer marked by repentance (contritely turning away from sin) and faith (joyfully turning as a forgiven child of God to Christ’s grace to do his will).

Gospel Transformation

The gospel is the power of God to radically change lives from the inside out. The gospel not only “gets us into heaven” but “gets heaven into us” as we align every dimension of our lives to its gracious truth. The cross of Jesus Christ establishes us in a new, eternally secure identity that sets us free from the pride and fear of trying to prove our own worth. It also frees from bondage to those things that once futilely drove our significance. We now live not “needing to get” love, esteem, success, or control, but out of “having already received” God’s loving acceptance. We live by faith in the Son of God and his precious promises, not by self-reliance or self-justification. We desire to see both those who see themselves furthest from God and those who assume themselves to be closest equally changed by the sheer grace of God through the gospel.

Gospel Community

The gospel does not only save isolated individuals, but creates a new humanity knit together in community as the body of Christ. Belonging to the church is integral to gospel life and is not optional for the Christian. The grace of God compels us to dwell in community, loving and extending grace to people we once disdained or envied. A gospel community is marked by grace, love, and humility between fellow weak, messed up, sin-strugglers, as opposed to a community of performance where people put on the appearance of moral uprightness, success and respectability. In a culture of gospel grace, people are free to be vulnerable about the deepest of struggles and weaknesses, and open to loving care, counsel, and accountability for gospel transformation.

Gospel Spreading

People who are being transformed by Jesus Christ understand that the gospel exists not solely for our personal progress and fulfillment, but it is the redemptive truth to which we are to give ourselves for its progress and fulfillment throughout our broken world. We desire to be on God’s worldwide gospel mission both locally and globally as He allows, praying for and working towards the advancement of God’s kingdom. Recognizing that the local church is central to this mission, we believe the best way to bring the gospel to bear on people in particular contexts is through the launching of multiple local congregations. In a vibrant gospel-spreading congregation, members work together to share the gospel with neighbors, classmates, co-workers, and friends, and embody the gospel in their love for one another and for their neighboring communities. We believe we can help spread the gospel most effectively throughout our region through site multiplication, church planting, and partnering with other local churches.

Gospel Mercy & Justice

The gospel shapes us to be a people who sacrificially serve our neighbors and the poor because of the salvation freely given to us through Jesus’ sacrificial love. We derive our life of active compassion and mercy from our identity with Jesus our King, who came to serve and not to be served. Instead of living to increase our private kingdoms of self-serving power and wealth, our new mode of existence is “power through service” and “wealth through generosity” as demonstrated at the cross. We especially seek to show mercy to the poor and seek justice for the weak and powerless, ministering the gospel through word and deed.

Our Vision & Core Values