About Manna Fellowship Church

Our Mission
Our Beliefs
Our Story

Our Mission: Here for God, there for you

Manna Fellowship Church exists to elevate God in our personal lives, church, community and world.

Our Purpose

We seek to elevate God by:

• Knowing and experiencing Him personally

• Allowing every part of our lives to be an act of worship to Him

• Caring for one another

• Serving our community and world

• Telling others the Good News of new life in Christ

• Equipping one another to serve in the church, community and world

• Training leaders and instilling a vision to start new churches

our core values

Biblically Based We look to Scripture, rather than church tradition, as our final authority. We seek to preach and teach accurately from the Bible and apply it to our lives.

Believer Equipped We strive to equip every person to become rooted, strengthened and growing in authentic, transforming faith. This faith is evidenced in service and action in the church and community. Followers of Christ use their God-given abilities to serve others and train one another to be servant leaders.

Team Oriented Church leadership is a team. Pastors, staff, lay leaders and members work together to make the mission of Manna Fellowship Church a reality.

Family Affirming We seek to provide an atmosphere of mentoring and resources, strengthening children, teens, single adults, marriages and families.

Missions Minded We see beyond church walls and strive to be a church without borders, reaching our neighborhood and the world beyond with God’s love.

Affliliation

Manna Fellowship Church is pleased to be a church planting partner with the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

OUR BELIEFS

We embrace the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message as our statement of faith.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Building God’s Kingdom, not our own
Daniel 4
As Christians, our first loyalty is not to a specific church, style, program or person. Our loyalty is to Christ and His enduring kingdom. The church is God’s chosen vehicle to accomplish His kingdom’s purpose. This means we will fellowship and partner with other churches who proclaim the Gospel of grace and honor the authority of Scripture.
 
Seeking the Holy Spirit’s leading and power
I Chronicles 16:11, Romans 8:26
The Holy Spirit is central to our ministry. Only God can make a church grow and He does so through the Spirit’s power. We place a high priority on seeking His presence and direction through prayer. Only when we faithfully kneel in prayer – both privately and corporately – will great things happen for the kingdom.
 
Incorporating evangelism into every ministry
Luke 19:10
As Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, He commissioned His church to do the same. That means evangelism must be a part of every ministry, not a stand-alone entity. Regardless of whether we are meeting spiritual, physical or emotional needs, the Gospel will be the center of our efforts.
 
Equipping Christ’s followers to do the work of the ministry
Ephesians 4:12
The Bible teaches that every Christian is a minister. We are committed to unleashing God's people to do great works of service together, putting their spiritual gifts into action. The leadership and staff are equippers and church members are ministers. This means we will only build ministry activities when there are willing people with proper gifts who are ready to serve.
 
Cultivating small groups to build community
Hebrews 10:24-25, John 13:34-35, James 5:16, Galatians 6:2
We are commanded to love one another, pray for one another and bear one another's burdens. These dynamic relational activities occur in groups. Small group communities will be established within the geographical areas represented in our church.
 
Engaging our culture in a relevant style
I Corinthians 9:22
America is a mission field. This means we need to live, act and think like a people living on mission. The Apostle Paul adapted his style (but not his doctrines or moral convictions) to reach the people of his culture, and we are called to do the same. Without chasing fads, we will create an environment where people are at ease so they can hear and receive the message of the Gospel.
 
Growing in numbers, love and maturity
Matthew 28:19-20, II Timothy 4:7-8
We have a passion to see more people come to know and grow in Christ. As a result, we will strive to launch new expressions of Manna Fellowship in other communities. We desire to be a church that lives and ministers with a healthy dissatisfaction with the present. This means we will take joy in what God is doing today, but live expectantly for what He will do tomorrow. We aren’t out to create a perfect church, nor do we desire to pretend we are perfect Christians. We believe in laughing at ourselves, apologizing for our wrongs, admitting our humanness, and never giving up. Our prayer is that every year our church grows in quality and quantity.

The Manna Fellowship Story

Manna Fellowship Church came to Cass County via a slight detour from Africa.
 
In 2013, Pastor Rick Friesen left the staff of a vibrant suburban church to answer God’s call to missions. As a director for Manna Worldwide, a global missions and relief agency, Rick partnered with individuals and churches to start nutrition centers, orphanages, water purification systems and congregations throughout Africa.

The work in Africa was challenging and rewarding. Yet God had more in store.

Nearly 20 years ago, Rick accepted the call to local pastoral ministry. He still felt that calling, but the work in Africa was urgent. He wrestled in prayer, trying to resolve the tension. Something had to give. Or did it? 

God revealed to Rick that the causes were not in conflict. Soon after, Manna Fellowship Church was born. It began in Rick’s living room in 2015 and now meets near Raymore, Mo. It’s a unique church dedicated to the spiritual and practical needs of Raymore and Belton. Yet it has a vision that extends around the globe.

In April of 2016, Rick chose to focus full time on the local congregation. Manna Fellowship Church maintains strong ties to Manna Worldwide, including sponsoring missionaries and an orphanage in Kenya.

THE CROSSPOINTE CONNECTION

As unique as that story is, it was only the beginning. Rick had a decades-long friendship with local Pastor Bill Boren of Crosspointe Baptist Church in Raymore. The two had partnered and shared ministry resources since Manna opened.

God began knitting the two pastors and churches together until they agreed to a full-fledged partnership, uniting under the banner of Manna Fellowship Church in February of 2017.

What's next? Only God has the details, but we know the story will be a good one because He is good.
 
You’re invited to help us write the next chapter.