About Us

Friends in Christ started in 1999 with a group of Lutheran-Christians that desired to reach the lost and unchurched families in the greater Bryant area. The mission that started this house church, first meeting in the home of Pastor Matt and Susan Schaefer, was to build new and deeper friendships in Christ.

Moving to a rented storefront (next to Simple Simon’s and now Larry’s Pizza), Friends in Christ incorporated as a non-profit religious organization and chartered as a member congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in the spring of 2002. At that time, Friends in Christ had grown to a family of believers numbering around 100. Since then, the church acquired the seven acres at its present location, remodeled and occupied a building on-site, and is in the midst of an ambitious building campaign called “Growing in the Gospel.” God willing, FIC will dedicate a portion of a new Family Life Center in the summer of 2006, and then progress in phases yet to be decided. Hopefully, these phases will include a preschool, school and larger sanctuary as the Lord provides.

In the midst of struggling and seeking God’s will to fulfill this vision and mission, Friends in Christ called Rev. Marcus Mackay as their full-time pastor and mission planter in 2004. “True mission is about relationship,” Pastor Mackay says. “It’s about God wanting to establish a relationship with every person he has created. This relationship is been made possible by His gift of a Savior, His Son, Jesus Christ! Through His life, death and resurrection, we have the promise of a relationship with Him, by grace through faith! The fact that Christ has done this for us, that He desires to reveal such absolute truth – most do not know or have rejected. We exist to make friends with others, to reach out with God’s love and truth, allowing Him to work through us and the means He has provided – all in order to increase God’s family. We take this mission quite seriously, yet with joy and excitement!”

“Go and make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Our Mission at Friends in Christ

Reaching out with God's love, our mission is to preach Christ crucified and grow in faith, building new and deeper relationships through Word and worship.

We value reaching and rescuing those who do not know Christ as their personal Lord or Savior. Our doctrine comes from God’s Word alone and it is our beliefs, not our practices that make us Lutheran.

We will NOT water down God’s Word and our doctrine, rather we will proclaim the absolute truths of God with sincerity and love.

Ministry develops around two principles:
1) Reaching new people who do not have a regular church home.
2) Helping our members grow in their relationship with Christ.

We are focused on God’s plans, not our own, by seeking Him in prayer first, planning second, practicing third.

Our weekly worship service is our primary focus of ministry that deserves our greatest effort. We value all people and seek to involve as many as we can in ministry opportunities because people are more important than profit, policy, property, programs, or personalities.

We will reproduce healthy new ministries at cost to us whenever and wherever the Lord commands us to.

Our Vision at Friends in Christ

Close your eyes and imagine a church where you can…

• Meet new people and talk openly about life.

• Learn more of God’s plan for you in Christ.

• Discover more of His purpose for you in this life.

• Ask difficult questions and receive honest answers.

• Receive His gifts of forgiveness, nourishment and instruction, in a contemporary and nonthreatening
setting.

• Enjoy the many blessings that God gives through music, talents, and cutting edge technology.

• Grow in your ability to enjoy this life God has given us, through the good times and the bad - understanding His presence and work in all things!

• Make a new Friend . . . in Christ!

You have just imagined our vision … what we see as reality at Friends in Christ!