One of our core values at Redeemer church is community.  Our desire is to live out the Gospel in loving relationships that express authentic care and concern.  We understand that community is at the heart of the Gospel.  God's design for his people is that they live out their faith in community.  We are the Church.  The church is not the building.  We invite you to connect into each other's lives and live as the family of God.  Too many Americans have a strange idea of being a "Lone Ranger Christian."  This idea that they and God are a duo to take on the world.  At Redeemer Church, we are passionate about connecting with one another and sharing in gospel living.  And that's why you're reading this, right?  To do more than just religious activity?  To be a part of something bigger than yourself?

The primary way we cultivate community at Redeemer is through community groups.  Community Groups are mid-week gatherings in homes throughout the Champaign-Urbana area. The primary purpose of Community Groups is to connect people through building friendships, sharing meals, learning & applying God's Word, prayer, and missional living.

Life Transformation Groups are smaller same-gender groups (2-4 individuals) of covenanted church members who meet for accountability, for mentoring, to encourage one another in the faith, to help one another overcome besetting sin, and to develop intimate, life-long relationships.

Jesus Christ cares deeply for those who are suffering and struggling, and so do we. Part of our mission to build redemptive communities of Gospel-centered people entails doing just that through counseling and discipleship. Since the Bible provides wisdom and guidance for all of the different struggles we face in this life, at Redeemer, we seek to counsel and disciple one another with the words of life and comfort that Scripture provides. As a church, we are benefiting from ministries such as CCEF, Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, to train and equip each other for counseling and discipleship. If you are interested in learning more about this ministry or you are facing your own struggles and wish to receive help and support through prayer and biblical encouragement, please email our Pastor of Discipleship, Kyle McKay, at ktmckay2@gmail.com.

At Redeemer, we love families, because God has chosen to visibly display His invisible love and care for His church through the biblical pattern of the family. Through the family, God allows us to see and marvel at what He is doing in and through His church. He has loved us enough to design our relationships (when they are healthy) to reflect His own love for us. In light of that fact, we at Redeemer seek for God to change us, that we might more fully display God’s love and care through our lives and families.

One of the biggest reasons that people do not grow in the faith is that they do not have a solid biblical foundation.  We have seen and experienced this firsthand, and we strive to remove this obstacle through the various preaching and teaching ministries of the church.  One of the ways we do that is through offering Foundations Courses. Foundations Courses are twelve-week, seminary-level classes designed to help build solid biblical foundations.  Three courses are offered each year, following the Fall, Spring, and Summer schedule at the University.  We will begin by offering six courses in a two-year rotation and plan to add more courses over time.  The six initial courses are:

Hermeneutics (biblical interpretation)

Survey of the Old Testament

Survey of the New Testament

Systematic Theology I

Systematic Theology II

Applied Theology