New Life Christian Fellowship is a Bible-believing, Charismatic, Evangelical, Grace church.
We are Bible-believing, which means that our teaching and preaching centers around the Bible, which we believe is inspired and is our final authority in matters of belief and practice.
We consider ourselves charismatic or full gospel. At New Life we believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even the nine manifestations of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12: 7-11) are for the church age, and should be operating in normal church life.
We consider ourselves evangelical because we believe that everyone needs salvation, and this salvation can only be found in Christ. Evangelicals also believe that salvation is received by grace through faith in Christ, alone (Ephesians 2:8,9). We emphasize the grace of God and believe that salvation is by God’s grace from the beginning to the end.
In our services we have demonstrative praise and worship, allowing the Holy Spirit to operate within the New Testament guidelines. Our desire at New Life is to experience the manifest presence of God which powerfully changes the lives of people.
The People of Our Church
The people at New Life are from all walks of life. Our congregation is made up of people from different races, nationalities, ages, cultures, and church backgrounds. We love people, and we believe the local church should reflect the kingdom of God. A multi-cultural church is a testimony to the community of the deep unity we can experience in Christ. Our unity centers around the person of Christ.
Missionary Emphasis
World Missions is a priority and vision at New Life. We strongly believe in carrying out the Great Commission and supporting Missionaries and Ministries that are in various countries. We help to support many different missionary families, and several homeland Ministries. It is the plan and purpose of God to evangelize every “people group” in the world before Christ returns, and we at New Life want to have an active part in World evangelization.
Church Government
At New Life, we have an overseeing council of elders and deacons. The Senior Pastor and elders oversee all of the spiritual matters of the church. The Senior Pastor, elders and deacons meet regularly to deal with the financial and business matters of the church. Our elders and deacons are made up of men and women who have a deep love for the Lord and desire to serve Him. The leaders always strive to have unity in all matters of the church.
History
New Life Christian Fellowship, originally known as Bethel Temple Church of the Full Gospel, was founded in May of 1916. It was founded as an independent, Full Gospel church with a vision to reach lost souls, and to see the supernatural works of Jesus Christ. The church has always believed that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The church has been at four different locations. The first three locations were in the city of Chicago. The fourth and present location is at 6235 West North Avenue in Oak Park, Illinois. It was in 1954 when the people of the church purchased land at North Avenue and Harvey in Oak Park, and built the present building.
Through the years, the church building and church congregation has changed, but our goal and vision to reach people with the full message of Christ has remained the same.