Our Mission
To lead and love our diverse community of Jackson together in Christ.
Our Goal
We believe God’s love is for everyone, and through community, we can find faith, freedom, and love.
Diversity, Equity, Justice
Three radically transforming concepts that define who we are and how we grow.
The Found Story
From Parkside to Downtown
Sometimes it is hard to fathom the miraculous story of Found Church. Four couples began to pray and fast for God’s design and vision for what this beautiful church would eventually become, and in fact, is still becoming. We had a vision of launching a diverse church in downtown Jackson, MI. As we continued to pray and dream, asking God to lead and provide a space to begin worship services, He opened the door for us to worship at the Middle School at Parkside. We launched on September 8, 2019, as a portable church, setting up and tearing down every Sunday for over three years. Add in the couple of COVID detours and
work-arounds; the Cascade Falls, a small chapel on Marshall St, and the office location on Woodbridge, affectionately called “The Bridge,” that we were blessed to use free of charge. We found that the Found Church community became beautifully galvanized for the mission God has called us to.
We eventually began to recognize how God was lifting our gaze back toward the picture He had initially shown us, a location in downtown Jackson. Of course, there was nothing for sale that was the right size or the right price. What we needed was a miracle. We looked at many spaces. Each was either too expensive, too small, too big, too costly to renovate, or not the right
location. Until…the Lord moved a mountain.
We found Found. Or at least, the building we have called home since 2022, 141 East Michigan Ave in Downtown Jackson. On the very street we were believing and hoping for! The miracles are too many to count since the dream of the Found Church was conceived in 2017. From that day forward, we have waited and trusted in God to bring us what we dream for. We often joke, “Just waiting on the Lord to bring it to us on a silver platter.” He has proven it time and time again. We pray for vision, ask for the provision, and trust that He will supply. We could write a book. And one day, maybe we will. It will be titled, “Are You Found?”
Our Values
You Jump I Jump
The pain this world can inflict and the burdens of life’s struggles can weigh heavy on a person’s soul. Often, it is in our isolation that this weight seems to crush our spirit. No soul should ever carry this weight on its own. We will be a church ready to step out on a ledge to carry the weight heavy on another’s soul.
You Hurt I Hurt
Charity is easy, compassion not so much. Most confuse sympathy with empathy. Christ’s compassion for us, and His eagerness to come to us in our pain sets our faith apart from any other. This is His command: that we are to love as He loved us. After all, His love led Him to a cross.
No Longer I But Christ In Me
Ultimately if Christ’s love for us led Him to a cross, and if we are called to love as He loved us, then Christ is leading us through our own death – death to self. It is through this death that Christ alone takes up residence in our heart. Only here, will we be able and willing to love as He loved us.
I Want to Know Christ
There is, of course, right doctrine and then not-so-right doctrine. But if right doctrine becomes our quest, then our journey is to the wrong thing. Christ and Christ alone is the right thing! In Phil 3:10, Paul shares for us his only quest; everything that Paul teaches in scripture is from that perspective
You Can’t Offend Me
Christians should be the least offendable people on the planet. Unfortunately, that’s just not the reality. Christ had every right to be offended on so many levels and yet He denied His right of offense. Instead, He showed perfect patience, perfect response, and perfect love at each circumstance of persecution. How will we ever show mercy and love if we are offended at every person or situation that seems against us?
My Ego Bye-Bye
Self-interest, self-preservation, self-entitlement, self-pity – self, self, self. No matter which way you cut it, the hardest right to die to is the right to self. This mission will not see success in the light of self. Pride is always subtle. Whether obvious arrogance or disguised self-pity, pride will not allow us to see the bigger picture. The love of God and the love of others is the picture. Pride blinds us to that.
You Will Be Loved
Almost as a proclamation: “feel free to test us in this.” If self is actually out of the picture, love will be easier. Jesus says, “it is by your love, that people will know you are my disciples.” So as a disciple, we lay down our right to withhold our love. If people leave unsatisfied with the preaching, fine. If they leave unsatisfied with the location, fine. It is not ok if any person leaves because they were not loved.
What Enemy?
Jesus flips the paradigm when He says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It is the position of our heart that we no longer consider even those who come against us as an enemy, but as a person who should be loved. You say “enemy.” I say “what enemy? I love you!”
What We Believe
Found Church is proud to be a part of the Church of the Nazarene, a global community of faith organized in 1908. Today, we join over 2.5 million members in 160+ world areas who share a common vision: to make Christlike disciples in the nations.
Our theology is rooted in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition, which emphasizes that God’s grace is available to everyone and has the power to transform our lives completely.
Our Core Values
As a Nazarene church, our identity is shaped by three primary pillars:
We are a Christian People
As members of the Church Universal, we join with all true believers in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and affirming the historic Trinitarian creeds.
We are a Holiness People
We believe that God, who is holy, calls us to a life of holiness. We believe the Holy Spirit seeks to cleanse our hearts and empower us to love God and our neighbors with our whole being.
We are a Missional People
We are a sent people. We respond to the Great Commission by taking the Good News of Jesus into our local community of Jackson and to the ends of the earth.
The Essentials of Our Faith
While our full Articles of Faith go into great detail, these truths represent the heart of what we stand for:
One God
We believe in one God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Bible
We believe the Old and New Testament Scriptures contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living.
Grace for all
We believe that the atonement through Jesus Christ is for the whole human race; whoever repents and believes is justified and saved from the dominion of sin.
Transformation
We believe that through the Holy Spirit, believers can be “sanctified wholly”—a work of grace that restores us in the image of God and produces in us the character of Christ.
The return of Christ
We believe that our Lord will return, the dead will be raised, and God will complete His loving purposes for all creation.
Want to Dive Deeper?
You can read our full 16 Articles of Faith and explore our denominational history at the Official Church of the Nazarene website.