What is CORE? You might be asking this question, and with good reason. We have been asked this very question many times. The answer is worthy of a response and a page on this website
Well, CORE represents several things; first of all, it is the vision God gave to me nearly three years ago, as I was getting ready to graduate seminary. I knew I wanted to plant a church, and I knew that I wanted to target a hard to reach, inner-city community. What the Holy Spirit began to form in my mind and in my heart was the way I would go about planting such a church.
I had seen so many local churches just going through the motions of doing church. Religion and denominationalism had taken its toll on many of these churches. I really wanted to plant a church that is raw; stripped bare of religiosity and denominational traditions and structure.
I had been engaged in inner-city ministry for a dozen years prior to this point and really wanted to be able to reach the average person on the street with God’s message of love, peace and hope. I had tried all of the usual seminary taught evangelism tactics and had read numerous books on different styles of evangelism, only to be left wanting for a way to relate to people on a personal level about a personal relationship with a personal Savior.Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of great books out there on evangelism and missiology. I have gleaned much from the books I have read. However, I was simply praying and looking for a simpler way to reach people and build Christ’s church.
Then one day I was helping my son, who was in 2nd grade at the time, with somehomework. He had to look up some words and write down what they mean. One of his words for that day was “Core.” So, I helped him look it up in the dictionary, then helped him read the definition as he wrote it down on paper. Afterward it hit me. That’s the word I was looking for to describe the vision God had given me; getting back to the core of what matters; the essentials of our faith, back to the apostolic way of making disciples.
Along with the word”CORE” a strategy began to emerge, as I asked the Lord to show me what all of this is to mean. Core became my vision for helping people to know Jesus Christ at the core (center) of their lives and then make Him know to others.
Welcome to the C.O.R.E. Church of Troy, New York
The C.O.R.E. Church is a community of faith, serving Christ in inner-city of Troy, New York. We are occupying the former Sixth Avenue Baptist Church (SABC), located on the corner of 6th Ave & 101st St. at the crossroads of North Central Troy and Lansingburgh (North Troy) in a neighborhood that has earned the distinction of being the roughest part of Troy’s inner-city. There is a growing drug trade here along with rivaling street gangs seeking to claim these streets as their own territory. Fear and hopelessness abound. Many buildings are run down and boarded up. At the same time, there is a remnant of people, living in this neighborhood, hoping and praying for God’s blessing and renewal. We truly believe The C.O.R.E. Church is God’s answer to the prayers of a faithful remnant. God has sent us here to let this community know that He loves them and has not forgotten them.
Core:(according to Webster’s Dictionary)
1. The central, innermost part of something
2. The essential meaning or truth
3. A group of people
4. Inner-city
Synonymous with: center, heart, nucleus
Core Truth: Jesus Christ is the core of everything we are and do. (John 14:6; Ephesians 3:16-19)
Core Purpose and Mission: To know Jesus Christ as the core, or center, of our lives and to make Him known.
We will do this as a community of Christ followers:
Connecting with God and other followers of Christ (Acts 2:40-47)
Offering ourselves to God, as living sacrifices, so that we may come to know His plan and His purpose for our lives (Romans 12:1-8)
Reaching out to those who are “weary and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35-38; Matthew 28:18-20)
Equipping the body of Christ, so they can make a difference in their community and their world for Christ and his kingdom (Ephesians 4:11-13)
CORE Vision
1. We desire to be a community church where the gospel is communicated in practical, relevant ways, where the name of Jesus Christ is lifted up, where lost, hurting people are truly loved and warmly welcomed, where disciples are raised up and sent out.
2. We desire to be a loving community, a serving community, and a healing community.
3. We desire to be a center for community outreach where real needs of people in the community are met; physical, emotional, social, and spiritual.
4. We desire to be a catalyst for missions activity, mobilizing the body of Christ locally for the purpose of joining God on mission in Troy, New York.
5. We desire to be a church that intentionally starts new churches. Church planting will be in our DNA.
6. Our particular call to ministry is the inner-city. We desire, therefore, by the grace and the call of God, to serve people in the inner-city of Troy, NY, by reaching out with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ and bringing to them a message of love, hope and peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
