Kingdom Culture

at Antioch Waco

Kingdom
Culture Vision 

Our desire as a church is to define more clearly God’s call for our body to emulate heaven by being a racially and ethnically diverse people that live out Kingdom Culture as a unified body. These clarity statements are not offered to appear socially conscious, nor are they offered to appease the initiatives of any group of people. They are offered to help people understand the direction of our church related to biblical Kingdom Culture. The statements also serve as accountability to our leadership to be intentional about the fulfillment of these statements. Biblical Kingdom Culture encompasses many aspects of how Christians should embrace societal concerns, but for clarity and forward movement, this statement primarily refers to racial issues.  

A “Kingdom Culture church” is a Spirit-led, biblically based family of God embracing every nation, tribe, people and language, committed to worshiping Jesus and living out Kingdom values in community. 

We are clearly stating that we are for Jesus Christ, His Church and His mission to the world. We are committed to engaging culture from a biblical worldview; therefore, our mission is not to align to any specific person, social trend, political party or organization but to challenge everyone in all spheres of society to live as disciples of Jesus and to apply biblical conviction in their leadership and influence. Prioritizing Jesus does not mean practicing “colorblindness” but simply means that we will honor Jesus first and then honor the uniqueness of every tribe, tongue and people among us.   

Also, because of our biblical convictions, we are clearly stating that we oppose any form of human oppression toward, but not limited to, the poor, women, the unborn, the elderly, the immigrant, people of every culture and race and persons with mental, emotional, social or physical disabilities.   

Kingdom
Culture Values

Church members prioritize Christian identity over any racial, cultural or political identity. 1 Peter 2:9-10   

  1. Value is placed on every person of any race, gender and age. Value is shown in many ways, often through encouragement, honor, care, meeting one another’s needs, rejoicing and mourning with one another and advocating for one another when subject to injustice. Romans 12:9-16; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27  

  2. Church leaders seek God and respond to the Holy Spirit’s leadership in establishing Kingdom Culture through church leadership, church teaching and church ministries and services. Acts 13:1-3  

  3. Church leaders equip every church member to understand and apply God’s Word when distinguishing between Kingdom Culture and societal narratives. Acts 15:1-35 

  4. Church leaders prayerfully discern when to speak publicly about societal issues and controversies. When they do speak publicly, it is done to teach biblical perspective and declare truth. Ephesians 4:11-16  

  5. Church members participate in cross-cultural relationships with the hope of learning to love one another and to dwell together in unity. John 13:34; John 17:20-24; Ephesians 2:14-16 

  6. Kingdom Culture Plans (Educate, Relate, Advocate) 

Educate

Create a list of cultural resources to increase multiethnic understanding among church members. 

  1. Church leadership will communicate and train the church to understand key social issues. 

    • Life University Course on Kingdom Culture was offered in the spring of 2023.

    • Kingdom Culture Course was offered in the spring of 2022.

    • Life University Course on understanding culture from a biblical worldview was offered in the fall 2021.

  2. Develop Kingdom Culture training resources.

    • Summarized version of the Antioch Waco Kingdom Culture position paper is scheduled for release in 2023.

    • Training was developed and implemented in January 2020. It was captured in video and made into a training resource and distributed to all churches in the Antioch Movement. 

    • The Elders have included the statement on Kingdom Culture into the church’s overall vision statement and strategy plans. 

Relate

Increase cross-cultural relationships within the body. 

  • Elders and pastors have actively engaged in cross-cultural relationships with church members and attenders. 

  1. Leadership will commit to engage in diverse church relationships within the city, including pastors’ prayer gatherings.

    • Several Antioch elders and pastors actively participate in prayer and dialogue with a variety of pastors across the city who represent various cultural groups.

  2. Antioch will look for opportunities to host cultural community events and diverse worship/prayer gatherings.

    • Partnered with a local African American music producer and hosted a Gospel concert in 2022.

  3. Continue Antioch Come Together and DiverseCity initiatives. 

    • Two Kingdom Culture Community Groups are scheduled for 2023.

    • First Kingdom Culture Community met February–December of 2022.

    • DiverseCity gathering met from 2017–2021 before transitioning to Kingdom Culture Community initiative.

    • Annual Come Together event occurred in October 2022.

    • Established a new Kingdom Culture initiative in 2022 called Taste of the World, which celebrates the various ethnic cultures of the church through presentations of food, clothing and various historical elements.

    • Second annual Taste of the World event occurred in May of 2023.

  4. Adult Pastoral Team will develop Kingdom Culture strategy for Lifegroups. 

    • Our vision for Kingdom Culture is being added to Antioch’s new Lifegroup leader training process, including the new Lifegroup leader website. Kingdom Culture vision is also included in the church’s New Members' Classes. 

Advocate 

Develop feedback process for racial/cultural concerns for staff and the church.  

  • Feedback process is being implemented into the church’s new website as well as the website for Lifegroup leaders.

  1. Provide venues for Antioch people to process relational and societal challenges.  

    • Counseling groups were provided to staff in 2021 with follow-up discussions with senior leadership. 

    • Counseling groups were offered to all DiverseCity participants in 2021.

  2. Facilitate Antioch’s Kingdom Culture business initiative. 

    • Kingdom Culture Business Course was offered September of 2021.

  3. Develop relationships with city leaders on ways to engage key social issues in Waco. 

    • Church leadership participates in ongoing meetings and dialogue with the mayor, city council member and other city officials.

  4. Develop Antioch’s missions’ recruitment initiative to facilitate more missionaries from diverse backgrounds. 

    • Distributed foundation grant funds to people of color committed to international missions in 2022.

  5. Commit to sustained prayer and intercession for Kingdom Culture vision.

  6. Diversify music expression during Sunday services. 

    • We’re currently building relationships with African American musicians who are helping the Antioch Worship Ministry learn how to broaden our corporate services’ musical expression. 

    • Several Spanish singers and musicians are actively participating in the worship team and lead out in Spanish worship songs in corporate services. 

Other Faith in Practice Papers

  • Our desire as a church is to define more clearly God’s call for our body to emulate heaven by being a racially and ethnically diverse people that live out Kingdom Culture as a unified body. These clarity statements are not offered to appear socially conscious, nor are they offered to appease the initiatives of any group of people. They are offered to help people understand the direction of our church related to biblical Kingdom Culture. The statements also serve as accountability to our leadership to be intentional about the fulfillment of these statements. Biblical Kingdom Culture encompasses many aspects of how Christians should embrace societal concerns, but for clarity and forward movement, this statement primarily refers to racial issues.  

    READ FULL PAPER HERE

  • Revelation 7 presents a glorious picture of eternity declaring that every people group on the planet will worship God together, forever. All of mankind standing in a unified state may be so glorious that only the majesty of God Himself would outshine it. For now, humanity longs for the beauty of unity as people struggle with one another in almost every human endeavor. In recent years, race has been one of the greatest places where individuals struggle with one another. The racial tensions, particularly in western culture, have become so great that the cause of unity may seem hopeless to some. However, the reality is that the current strife that exists in our culture represents an invitation from the Lord to shine the light of Jesus more brightly than ever into the darkness of cultural divisions. While unity between the races is certainly a most difficult goal, it is not impossible according to the Word of God. 

    READ FULL PAPER HERE

  • Sexuality provides a significant religious flashpoint in the modern Western world. Social views regarding sexual morals have changed dramatically within the last 60 years. Sex outside of marriage is now considered normal, divorce rates have increased significantly and pornography and other sexually charged media are widespread. Homosexuality is widely seen as a social rights issue in modern society. These trends have placed culture on a collision course with the traditional teachings of the Church. 

    READ FULL PAPER HERE

  • The purpose of this article is to address the Antioch Movement’s stance on the role of women in ministry. Our heart is to release both men and women across Antioch into the fullness of their uniqueness, gifting and calling. The Scripture is our authority for faith and practice; therefore, we should always allow the Bible to interpret our lives rather than allowing our culture to interpret the Scriptures, and ultimately, our application. Biblical clarity gives our movement both strength and longevity. 

    READ FULL PAPER HERE

  • We believe the Bible speaks clearly regarding the value of life in the womb. We also acknowledge the complexity and sensitivity of the issues surrounding abortion, a subject that disproportionately affects women. We know that this topic is one laden with emotional weight, and we in no way seek to contribute to the pain or guilt someone might feel who has had, performed or contributed to an abortion. We also recognize there are valid concerns that many proponents of abortion are trying to address (e.g., systemic poverty, the pressures of being a single parent, etc.) and we seek to engage those issues with compassion. The goal of this paper is to outline a biblical approach that navigates the issue of abortion specifically. It is limited in its scope and is not intended to comprehensively address all of the attending and underlying issues. Though the content is brief and to the point, we hope to communicate the church’s stance with empathy. Jesus came full of grace and truth (John 1:14), and the church must walk in the same manner.

    READ FULL PAPER HERE