CORE VALUES

These core values will determine our overall church culture. Therefore, we must believe and relentlessly implement these values into our leadership and ministry teams.

  • We will do what’s right just because it’s right.

    “For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only before the Lord, but also before men.” // 2 Corinthians 8:21

  • Our service is fueled by God’s active work in us.

    “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” // Mark 10:45

  • Pride is about us; humility is about God and others.

    “He must become greater; I must become less.” // John 3:30

  • By the power of the Holy Spirit, we work together toward common spiritual goals.

    “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” // Psalm 133:1

  • We will be laser-focused on what contributes to our mission and vision.

    “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” // Matthew 6:33

our beliefs

In essential beliefs, we have unity. In non-essential beliefs, we have liberty. In all our beliefs, we show love.

  • We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

  • We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

  • We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

  • We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

  • We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

  • We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

  • We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

our STORY

Rejoice Church in Columbia (officially Rejoice Free Will Baptist Church) was started through the Missouri Free Will Baptist Mission Board in 1998. The MO mission board began talking with Steve Reeves in 1997 about planting (starting) a new church in Columbia, Missouri. Steve and his wife, Linda, and 4 year old daughter, Hannah, moved to Columbia on February 1, 1998.

The first home meeting was held in the evening of Easter Sunday, April 12, 1998 at Steve and Linda's home. The first public service was held on Sunday, May 17, 1998 at Stephens College, with 19 in attendance. Rejoice Church moved to the strip mall at Route WW and El Chaparral Ave on Sunday, October 4, 1998. The congregation moved to our current location, 1900 Chapel Hill Road (the former building of Columbia Community Nazarene Church) on Sunday, June 4, 2000. Over the years, nearly 200 people have been baptized at Rejoice Church.

After 23 years, Steve Reeves resigned as pastor on May 22, 2021. His final Sunday as pastor was August 29, 2021. Aaron Pontious became the second lead pastor of Rejoice Church in January 2022.