Our Affiliations
Who We Partner With
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” - Psalm 133:1
Far from isolating ourselves from the rest of the Body of Christ, we highly value and believe in the support, accountability, and example of other Biblically-minded churches as we pursue the glory of God together. In an age of increasing independent self-stylized leaders and rogue church movements, Pillar Bible Church understands its need of other brothers and sisters who serve the same Master. Therefore, we are committed to the following associations for mutual encouragement, accountability, and missions:
Shepherds Fellowship of Churches
The Shepherd’s Fellowship, “is an association of churches rallying around the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, the importance of expository preaching, and the centrality of a biblical philosophy of ministry.” The Fellowship serves as both a resource and an encouragement for pastors and Christian leaders around the globe. The Fellowship’s goal is to stand for the truth of God’s Word by partnering with other biblically-minded churches for the glory of Christ. Thus, in the midst of postmodern confusion, we hope to ignite a movement among Christian leaders back to biblical absolutes. It is a cooperative and voluntary association of churches who are like-minded in their commitment to Biblical Ministry. Started by the sponsorship of Grace Community Church and the leadership of John MacArthur, Jr. in 2003, it has grown to include many churches and leaders around the world. Currently, there are more 60 churches in the Association in California alone.
For more information: go to www.shepherdsfellowship.org
Southern Baptist Convention
The Baptist tradition is an association of churches with a strong history of orthodoxy represented by many godly spiritual giants such as Charles Spurgeon and John Broadus. Today, it is represented by exemplary men like Albert Mohler, Don Whitney, Tom Ascol, and Mark E. Dever. The Southern Baptist Convention and its ever-growing group of Reformed Baptists has a long history of commitment to the Bible. Well known for its emphasis on Bible teaching and Bible study materials, it operates a tremendous amount of resources on many ministry fronts including foreign and local missions, 54 colleges and universities, publishing houses, Baptist Press, LifeWay bookstores, Estate/Financial planning, Moral Causes, and the operation of 6 seminaries. Since its organization in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has grown to over 16 million members who worship in more than 42,000 churches in the United States. The California State Baptist Convention has over 1,500 churches and the Orange County Association has over 100 churches. Southern Baptists sponsor about 5,000 home missionaries serving the United States, Canada, Guam and the Caribbean, as well as sponsoring more than 5,000 foreign missionaries in 153 nations of the world. The SBC supports and sends more in the area of missions work than any other denomination in the United States. It is the largest association of Christian churches in California and America. SBC churches include every race, nationality, and ethnic group where services in the United States alone are represented by over 80 languages.
The term "Southern Baptist Convention" refers to both the denomination and its annual meeting. Working through 1,200 local associations and 41 state conventions and fellowships, Southern Baptists share a common bond of basic Biblical beliefs and a commitment to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world. Among its basic beliefs that distinguish it from many other denominations, the SBC is well-known for the following: Biblical Authority, Believer Baptism by Immersion, Local Church Autonomy, Strong Education, Religious Liberty, Evangelism & Missions, and the Importance of the Family.
For more information: go to www.sbc.net
Founders-Friendly Churches
Founders Ministries is a ministry of teaching and encouragement that seeks to promote both doctrine and devotion expressed in the Doctrines of Grace and their experiential application to the local church, particularly in the areas of worship and witness. Founders Ministries takes as its theological framework the first recognized confession of faith that Southern Baptists produced, The Abstract of Principles. We desire to encourage the return to and promulgation of the biblical gospel that our Southern Baptist forefathers held dear.
Our purpose is to encourage pastors, students and church leaders to recover the gospel of God's grace and work for the spiritual health and reformation of local churches. Our abiding concerns:
- We desire to be orthodox without being obnoxious.
- We want to be confessional, yet contemporary.
- We are Southern Baptist, though not sectarian.
- Our goal is to be doctrinally and devotionally balanced.
For more information: go to www.founders.org
9Marks Churches
9Marks rejoices that most Christians want strong, God-glorifying churches that build up believers and reach unbelieving communities. And 9Marks trusts that most church leaders desire the Scriptures to guide them in shaping, structuring, and growing their churches. We are grateful to be part of the same team. However, 9Marks has observed that many well-intentioned leaders frequently supplement the Bible in one of three ways – with an “accommodation approach,” a “pragmatic approach,” or an “optional approach.”
“If It Feels Right, Believe It.” – An Accommodation Approach Leads to a Marginalized Church
“If It Works, Do It.” – A Pragmatic Approach Leads to a Compromised Church
“If It’s Good For You, Join It.” – An Optional Approach Leads to an Unnecessary Church
These market-driven approaches have unintended long-term consequences that can hurt the health of local churches and their ministry to the nations. 9Marks seeks to call all church leaders back to the sufficiency of the Bible as the best approach for growing healthy churches.
9Marks believes the local church is the focal point of God’s plan for displaying His glory to the nations. Our vision is simple: Churches that reflect the character of God. Our mission is to cultivate and encourage churches characterized by these nine marks:
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church:
- Expositional Preaching
- Biblical Theology
- Biblical Understanding of the Good News
- Biblical Understanding of Conversion
- Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
- Biblical Understanding of Church Membership
- Biblical Church Discipline
- Concern for Promoting Christian Discipleship & Growth
- Biblical Church Leadership
For more information: go to www.9marks.org
Together for the Gospel
T4G began as a friendship between four pastors—Albert Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, & Ligon Duncan, who enlisted John MacArthur, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul to join them in cooperation and fellowship. These friends differed on a number of theological issues, like baptism and the charismatic gifts. But they were committed to standing together for the main thing—the gospel of Jesus Christ. So they began a conference which evolved into an informal network of church leaders who all share this ambition and who intend to encourage one another to do the same.
T4G is convinced that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been misrepresented, misunderstood, and marginalized in many churches and among those who proclaim the name of Christ. The goal of these friendships, conferences, and networks is therefore to reaffirm this central doctrine of the Christian faith and to encourage local churches to do the same. Compromise of the Gospel has led to the preaching of false gospels, the seduction of many minds and movements, and the weakening of the church’s Gospel witness. We, at Pillar Bible Church, heartily accept the historic 2006 Together for the Gospel Affirmations & Denials Statement.
For more information, go to www.togetherforthegospel.org