Cherokee Presbytery is the Presbyterian Church (USA) at work in Northwest Georgia. We are a church of more than 12,000 members that functions in 41 "mission committees." These "mission committees" are our congregations. You can visit them elsewhere in this website. We also currently have 1 new church development project at work.

Our Common Assumptions as We Continue the Journey

The church’s success is not merely a matter of institutional preservation, nor is programmatic organization by itself the heart of the church’s mission. Our hope is for churches that are deeply committed to engagement with both Gospel and Culture, resulting in missional clarity, biblical integrity, confessional fidelity, and institutional flexibility. Since we have no idea what challenges will be upon us tomorrow, we must learn how to recognize God’s presence and leadership—and develop the spiritual integrity and flexibility to go with God!

To help us get started, here is a set of “missional practices” for your use as you both plan and evaluate your mission and programs. We hope that these questions will help you grasp your responsibility before God, and also provide “benchmarks” as you continue your mission journey. This is not presented as exhaustive or final—only as the first steps in a brave journey with God!

We Are a Community of Worship and Service

·         Can we as a congregation come to consensus regarding the purpose and value of worship?

·         How will our definition correspond to the Directory for Worship?

·         Does a confused theology of worship lead to confused worship practice? How?

·         How does a confused understanding of worship lead the church to a misunderstanding or neglect of ministries of social justice and compassion?

·         How might our sessions engage their members in a season of intentional worship training for every member?

We Are a Community of Ethical Integrity

·         What are our session/congregation’s “ground rules” for Christian interpersonal behavior?

·         In light of our generational and cultural diversity, how do we typically relate to each other?

·         What will it take for our session/church to insist on authentic Christian behavior as we relate to one another?

·         How will we live together as a congregation under a “Constitution” and in relationship with the other congregations of Cherokee Presbytery?

·         What difference will this make for our life as a congregation? As a presbytery?

We Are a Holy Community

·         What makes us “different” from the culture around us?

·         In what ways are we like the culture around us?

·         What does the Reformed Tradition have to offer in northwest Georgia as distinct from other forms of theological expression? How are we unique?

·         How will this help us deal with the remnants of “Christendom;” that is, the assumption that our culture is basically “Christian,” and that people generally understand the Gospel?

·         How might we discover beginning steps to “enflesh” our theological convictions within our congregational programming?

We Are an Evangelistic Community

·         What, exactly, is the good news we proclaim?

·         How is the good news converting the members of our church?

·         What prevents us from sharing the good news?

·         How do we read and use the Bible as an instrument of formation for mission?

·         What changes are necessary if our church is to fulfill its evangelistic calling?

We Are a Community of Vocation

·         What is our Reformed understanding of Baptism in terms of “calling”?

·         What is the typical “cultural” understanding of the Sacrament?

·         What are we missing in our church because we fail to fully understand and appreciate God’s specific calling in our lives?

·         What results might we expect if our session/congregation takes more seriously its vocation as a body of called and gifted believers?

·         Assuming that every member is called both to salvation and service, how will we prepare people both for membership and leadership?

We Are a Community Organized for Mission not Maintenance

·         Is our church organized primarily for maintenance or for mission?

·         How does our administrative structure display what we “really” believe about our mission?

·         How do our biblical and confessional materials inform the use of our personal, corporate, and material gifts in the administration of our mission together?

·         What changes need to be made and how will we engage our church and presbytery with these changes and implement them most effectively?

·         How will de deal with resistance to missional transformation—i.e. “talking mission” but “living maintenance?”