Beliefs, Values & Structure

Doctrine
Culture
Government

Our Emphasis

Heartland is a multi-generational family bringing as many people as possible into an encounter with God, launching them into a life abandoned to His purposes.

We are an apostolic resource and sending center. When we say we have an “apostolic” emphasis, we mean that our focus is regional and global as opposed to simply building our congregation. We are called to resource the body of Christ and to equip and send believers to be the revival they have been praying for.

This being the case, we view the primary purposes of our Sunday corporate gathering as worship and training.

  • Our target audience is God. Our greatest desire is that He would feel welcomed by our worship. Therefore, we pull out all the stops and worship extravagantly.

  • Our secondary audience is those believers who consider Heartland their home. We strive to equip them to be the Church when they leave the building. Although we provide an opportunity for people to surrender to Jesus, our messages are geared toward provoking and equipping the believer.

Cultural Values

The following are the core values of Heartland culture, the Heart of Heartland.

They are listed in order of importance, each dependent and building upon the former.  

  • The presence of God is our primary pursuit. We believe we owe the human race an encounter with God. It is our primary classroom, public relations initiative and therapeutic model of healing, both physically and emotionally.

  • No man will be fulfilled until they fulfill the purpose for which they were made. Discovery of one’s identity and assignment is the key to discovering purpose.

    Knowing who we are enables us to live with great intentionality. Our identity is our destiny in seed form. It provides a plumb-line by which we evaluate every opportunity.

  • Because we have met Him and know who we are, we throw ourselves into our assignment. We are willing to sacrifice our own comfort for the fulfillment of His purposes through us.

    Passion has evolved into two separate definitions, ecstatic joy and deep sacrifice. The Christian life is a paradox encompassing both.

  • Effectiveness - we refuse to accept a powerless faith, a Christianity of resignation to a fallen world rather than holy revolt, overturning every effect of the fall. We contend for power and release it to our generation.

    Empowerment – Christianity is supernatural. God empowers us to miraculously do what would be absolutely impossible without Him. We strive to be like Him, empowering those around us. In the Kingdom, everyone gets to do the stuff. 

  • We base our lives upon the principles of God’s Word. It is the plumb line by which we measure every encounter, revelation and experience. It is the standard we hold our behavior and attitudes to. It is the inerrant Word of God. We are firm believers in both Divine revelation and ardent study.

  • We are convinced that God builds generationally, calling us to start what future generations will complete. We are committed to leveraging all we have built to pave the way for the emerging generation of leaders. We build people and organizations with this generational bias.

Heartland Culture (audio)

Foundational Beliefs

  • There is only one true God who is the eternal King, Creator, and Redeemer of all that is. He is perfectly holy, just, loving, and truthful. He has revealed Himself to be eternally self-existent - one Being in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

  • The Bible is the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God.

  • Humankind was created in the image of God to know and enjoy Him, yet we willfully rejected the Lordship and glory of God for which we were intended. Because of this, sickness, death, and judgment entered the world and now creation experiences the effects and consequences of sin.

  • The Lord Jesus Christ, the One and only Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is God's anointed One, empowered by the Holy Spirit to inaugurate God's Kingdom on earth. He was crucified for our sins, died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, and is alive today in the presence of God the Father and His people. He is "true God" and "true man."

  • We are saved by God's grace, through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Anyone can be restored to fellowship with God through repenting, believing, and receiving Jesus as their Savior and Lord. The Holy Spirit convicts, regenerates, justifies, and adopts us as we enter the Kingdom of God as His sons and daughters.

  • We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live holy and minister supernaturally. The baptism of the Holy Spirit according to Acts 1:4-8 and Acts 2:4 is poured out on believers that they might have power to be witnesses.

  • The victorious redemptive work of Christ on the cross provides freedom from the power of the enemy: sin, lies, sickness, and torment.

  • The Church consists of all who put their faith in Jesus Christ. He gave His Church the ordinances of Baptism and Communion. The Church exists to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ and further advance His kingdom by undoing the works of the enemy, preaching and living the good news of God's love, discipling nations, baptizing and teaching them to love and obey God.

  • We believe in the ever-increasing government of God and in the Blessed Hope, which is the glorious visible return of our Lord Jesus Christ for His overcoming bride: His church. Heaven and hell are real places. There will be a resurrection of the saved and the lost, the one to everlasting life and the other to everlasting death.

Governmental Structure

There are a lot of models used to govern the local church and each have their strengths and weaknesses. At Heartland, we have adopted a hybrid form that combines several different models which we feel capitalizes on the strengths of each while hopefully avoiding their weaknesses. In the form of government we have adopted, four specific groups of people are empowered to lead in four distinct contexts.

This is how we roll:

  • The people decide on who they will follow. Heartland’s members are known as partners. Partners are those who identify with Heartland’s values and commit to support and serve the vision. They vote during leadership transition, choosing their senior pastor. They also choose the Elders who serve on the Board.

  • A mature group of able people provide wisdom and accountability. Heartland elders are mature partners who are appointed by the Senior Leader because they meet the requirements laid out in the Bible (I Tim. 3:1-7), are committed to the vision of the House and exercise obvious leadership. They serve as counselors to the Senior Pastor and as spiritual leaders to the congregation. Six out of this group of Elders are chosen by the congregation to serve on the Board of Heartland. They oversee the finances and legal compliance of the Church.

  • The primary leader sets the tone and direction. The senior pastor is installed by a vote of the partners. He provides vision, develops strategy, oversees its implementation and appoints leaders to fulfill God’s unique plan for Heartland. He develops Elders who in turn serve with him to provide spiritual oversight of the Church.

  • Leaders outside the situation provide direction. Heartland maintains external overseers, men or women with a proven track record of fruitful ministry, a strong reputation and a history of relationship with our Church. The context of their authority is leadership crisis. If the Elder Board has concerns about the Senior Pastor’s personal life or ministry, they can invite the External Overseers to intervene. The Overseers then have complete authority to deal with the situation as they see fit.

    This structure lets leaders lead while allowing for the protection accountability provides.