Broken people…
Following Jesus
We may rightly say that this is at the heart of what being a Christian is about.
It’s also at the heart of our vision statement and core values.
Our Vision Statement
King’s Cross Church is
a community of broken people
following Jesus
in the story of how he is renewing
our neighborhood and our lives.
A Community.
The concept of communal life of the church encompasses both our gathering to worship the Triune God both in formal [Sunday] worship and informal [community groups, praise and prayer nights, etc.] worship. It also encompasses our scattering, which takes our kingdom life outside the spaces we worship together in, and understands that the life of the church calls us to be faithfully present in all of life.
Broken People.
Jesus made it clear why he had come to live among us when he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). By extension, we understand the Church exists to continue that same inviting call to broken sinners who are desperately in need of God’s reconciling grace. This means that we are not about becoming “better” people, but rather, people who rely on and are filled with the only one who was good, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Following Jesus.
We believe that spiritual growth happens when people simultaneously grasp the depth of their own brokenness and the height of God’s love and grace for them in Jesus. This is the re-creative power of the gospel: to turn us from our false-gods, and receive and embrace the incredible adoption we have, as God’s children and heirs of his kingdom. (Romans 8:16-17)
We also understand that following Jesus means we are free to pursue others good and well-being. Our lives take on the contours of his life as we grow in our relationship with him, which means we will be growing in a deeper desire and capacity to dwell with others, for the sake of pursuing their good and flourishing.
The Story of Renewal.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is literally the most beautiful and good news we could imagine; and like all news there is a story of how this news comes to us. Scripture tells us that we are caught up in the grand story of Creation, The Fall, Redemption, and Restoration.
Because of the fall, sin brought all of God’s good creation under what Ecclesiastes puts so well, “…there is nothing new under the sun.” We live in a world crying out in “sackcloth and ashes,”–biblical imagery of decay and corruption. The gospel is such good news because it tells us, upon the finished work of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection–Jesus has begun to make “all things new,” in a world where sin has made all things old.
Therefore our role in the story is to live a missional life–It means we are seeking to see the kingdom of God changing and transforming our Flushing neighborhood, block by block, and our lives, day by day, as we dwell together.*
Core Values
01
REDISCOVERING THE GOSPEL | PROCLAMATION
The gospel message tells us that God so loved his fallen creation that he sent his one and only son, Jesus, to renew all things through his kingdom. We believe the gospel is not merely how we receive grace and pardon for our sins, but in fact, the gospel is at the heart of how we experience the love and person of Jesus. Through the gospel, we are drawn together as a family. It is in this life of the family that we most deeply experience the power of the gospel at work in our lives.
02
REDEFINING THE GOOD LIFE | TRANSFORMATION
As we experience the deep heart-work of being made more like Jesus, we are given new desires, new dreams, and a new heart. Our world is redefined by who God is and what he has done for us which gives a completely new way of seeing the things we get our deepest identity and meaning and purpose from.
03
REFLECTING OUR NEIGHBORS | INCARNATION
Jesus entered into our world and shared all of life with us. Therefore, we desire to live and dwell with others in the same way. This means we want to be so embedded in our neighborhood that it colors the way we worship and live. It also means that we worship and cultivate our faith in ways that are relevant and relatable to neighbors and non-christians.
04
REIMAGINING FLUSHING | RESTORATION
We want to be able to reimagine Flushing in light of God’s story, understanding what peace and flourishing of God’s kingdom would look like, here on earth. This means we want to foster a genuine appreciation for the ways God is already at work in our neighborhood. It also means we are called to address the brokenness, injustice, and oppression through intercessory prayer, engaging in mercy, (meeting basic needs,) and doing justice, (generous sharing of our resources and voice for our others’ good.)
05
REPLICATING CHURCH | MULTIPLICATION
Whether in discipleship relationships, community groups, or raising up leaders, we believe a sign of true growth and flourishing is through multiplying. This also applies to how we envision our church growing, as, we would rather grow outward, seeking to plant like-minded churches to further share the gospel with those yet unreached in our city.
Our Story
The congregation at King’s Cross Church had her first service on October 14, 2012. We were originally planted as a congregation of Living Faith Community Church (LFCC) and part of a church planting movement to create churches that reflect the beauty and diversity of our home, New York City. After over a decade of ministry in New York, LFCC grew into a ministry that primarily served Eastern Queens. In 2011, Ruling Elder Peter Ong and his wife Jamie, with the leadership at LFCC, started to pray for a new congregation to serve young adults and the Flushing community. Soon, God started to answer that prayer, preparing a core team that grew out of young people meeting in community groups throughout Queens.
In 2015 Robert Calabretta came on as pastoral staff. He and his wife Sara moved back into the Flushing neighborhood to be missionally engaged in the people and culture of Flushing. In 2018, Robert was later ordained and called as King’s Cross Church’s Senior Pastor and Teaching Elder as the church particularized, becoming its own church in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), having its own governing body of elders to help lead the church.
Today, Flushing is expanding and rapidly developing. Main Street has the highest foot traffic in all of New York City, second to Times Square. There is still a large inpouring of immigrants, outsiders, and “re-locaters,” seeking somewhere to live, work, and find community. As we live and worship and grow here, King’s Cross Church’s identity and vision has also grown over the years to see that there has never been a more pivotal time for the Church to be present in the lives of people and work of the Kingdom for the sake of our Triune God’s glory and praise.