About Us
Every church has its own unique identity.
If you are thinking about visiting East Hill, there are a few
things you might want to know about us.
We are flawed.
We don’t pretend that our lives are perfect or that we have everything figured out. We struggle with temptation, with sickness, with anger, with addictions, and with everything else that goes with being human. So if you’re coming for a visit, relax, we know you aren’t perfect either.
We are diverse.
At East Hill we all over the board economically, educationally, and politically. Some of us grew up in the city, some in the country. Some came from stable family backgrounds, some from rough backgrounds. You might think that a diverse group of people like us don’t have much in common. But we do have one thing…
We are God’s children.
The grace of God covers over our flaws and the love of Jesus transcends our diversity. We try to pass that grace and love along. The apostle John once wrote, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” That is what binds us together. We serve a perfect God and look forward to a perfect kingdom in heaven. Until then, we are doing what we can to practice those things on earth.
Our Vision
East Hill Church Vision Statement
East Hill is a community where every Christian belongs to the body and grows together into the image of Jesus Christ. We acknowledge that each of us is unique and has different gifts, but we are one body in the Spirit.
At East Hill, our Christianity is lived out through the use of our gifts. We believe that every member has been gifted and that each one of us is called to use his or her gift in service to the family of God. We challenge one another to make church-life central to our own lives. We encourage and support one another in our combined effort of serving Christ.
At East Hill, our Christianity is also lived out through our proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our community. We share privately and publicly what God has done and is doing among us. We also equip one another to share their faith with those outside of Christ so that they, too, can participate in the grace of God and the blessings of the Kingdom.
We know that East Hill exists not just for our own good, but to serve as a witness of Jesus before the world, beginning right here in the York community. We are motivated by the return of Christ and the glory of God.
OUR CORE BELIEFS
Christians don’t need to see eye-to-eye on everything. Unity is not the same thing as uniformity.
But there are some things that we believe are essential to what we are trying to do at East Hill.
The Bible reveals God’s story.
The words of the Bible are the heart of all we are and all we teach. They are the revealed and authoritative words of God. When faced with life decisions, the first question we ask is, “What does the Bible say?”
God is the center of our story.
The Bible reveals God as three-in-one: Father, Son, and Spirit. Although we may not fully be able to comprehend this mystery, we accept it on faith. We are created by God to live in a loving relationship with him. That is, above all else, the purpose of our existence. Because God is holy, our sin causes us to become separated from him. But God loved us so much that he came to earth in the form of Jesus. His sacrifice on the cross was to atone for our sins.
We are called to respond to the story.
Jesus came so that everyone could be saved, but God will not force himself on us. Our acceptance of God’s free gift of salvation begins with a confession of faith and with baptism. Since the earliest church, these have always been the gateway into God’s kingdom. This makes sense since baptism by immersion is a kind of reenactment of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
Our lives continue the story.
When we become Christians, God comes to live in us through the Holy Spirit. He helps us learn to live the kind of lives that are pleasing to God, the kind of lives that we were created to live. We will never be perfect, but we are always growing in grace.