Church Purpose & Philosophy -Part 1

We are a church that holds to missionary posture not only for the world, but also for our city!

We function as missionaries to our communities and city, creating and cultivating faith communities in various sub cultures and people groups throughout the city. We are a missional church and people committed to the proclamation and incarnation of the gospel to and through culture.

We are a church that is re-positioning herself as the sent people of God, taking up apostolic-missionary roles within the body Christ, to equip believers and establish faith communities and churches.

•We hold to a missional identity: We see the church as the sent people of God to declare and demonstrate God’s righteousness for all peoples of the earth. We find continuity between the church and Israel, in their election and calling to serve as a light to the nations. We are the people continuing in the redemptive narrative of God’s people on earth.

• We apply missiological principles to our local community: We are not content in fulfilling the great commission in Mt. 28, by sending money to Africa, rather we will want to help start a church in an African Refugee community right in our own city. We commit to using similar terms, principles, and practices that are common to theology of missions, which is known as missiology.

• We embrace a missional theology: We believe that missional theology should be rooted to the Trinity. Mission is woven into the character and nature of God himself. Within the trinity, we see that God sent his son, (cf John 3:16). The Father and the son send the spirit, (cf. John 14, and Acts 2). Finally, we see that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit send us, his people, to proclaim the message of the kingdom.

Who We Are. The Lead Pastor and Family

Ryan and Leslie Rice will serve as the founding church family to plant Imago Dei Community Church in Phoenix, Arizona beginning in May of 2010. Ryan will serve as the Lead Pastor/Elder of the church.

Ryan has worked in youth ministry for over 10 years serving on staff at churches such as Fellowship Bible Church, Lake Pointe Baptist Church and Resurrection Anglican Church. In addition, he has a long background in outdoor ministry working as a guide at Noah’s Ark Adventure Co. His interdenominational experience will help add to his ability to adapt to the new church partners and church planting networks.

Ryan and Leslie have been married for 7 years and have five-year-old twins, a boy, Sam and a girl, Riley. They recently moved to Little Rock from Dallas, after Ryan graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary. While studying various church plants of Ryan’s home church, (Fellowship Bible Church) he discovered the need for international missions/church planting and pursued planting in Madrid, Spain. For nearly two years he took courses/independent studies to educate himself about the mission field and even spent a summer with his family exploring this potential call. Later, through a series of events and circumstances the Rice’s sensed God’s clear call within the counsel of many to remain in the United States and plant a sending church that would equip others to plant churches in major cities of the world.

Ryan  attended Fellowship Associates Leadership Residency for church planters. Fellowship has been equipping and empowering church planters for the last 10 years and has more then a 95% success rate in planting churches. The Rice’s will graduate from the leadership residency in May of 2010 and move to Phoenix Arizona to plant Imago Dei Community Church.

With more then 10 years of ministry experience in the church and fresh passion for international ministry Ryan and Leslie chose the name Imago Dei Community Church to share with the people of Phoenix a greater story about God’s love for all people. “Imago Dei” is Latin for “In the Image of God” this message is the heartbeat of the church- a love for Jesus and all people.