Guiding Ideas

Kingdom-minded. We want to see the name of Jesus celebrated and made famous in Kincardine more than we want to see our own church grow.

Collaborative. Bluewater does not exist to compete with other churches like we are some kind of franchise. We love to collaborate and partner with other faith communities who love Jesus just as much as we do.

Grace first. This means we want to take the condemning and judgemental reputation that religion has and kick it to the curb. The message of Jesus is actually good news! He offers us grace (a gift) and accepts us as we are, not as we should be. So we want to offer grace to others, too.

Downtown touch. We love Kincardine — all of it. But we are especially crazy about downtown. Kincardine’s downtown has a unique energy and vibrancy. We love the variety of shops and vendors. We love the people, parades, car shows, music festivals, theatre, outdoor markets, and more. And that is why when we set up our ministry space, guess where we wanted it to be? Yep, right in the middle of it all on Queen Street. 746 Queen Street, to be precise.

Centered Set Church

Do you remember studying set theory in high school? There is bounded set and center set. A bounded set is static; it’s all about boundaries. A center set is dynamic; it’s all about movement, direction, and proximity to the center.

Historically, most churches have operated as a bounded set. People were either in or out: inside the boundaries or outside the boundaries, and the way you belonged to a bounded set church and were considered to be “in” was to cross the boundary and be on the inside through compliant behaviour, giving money, doing a task, joining a membership list, etc. There have been and continue to be some truly good bounded set churches.

At Bluewater, we’ve opted for a centered set model. We’re not nearly so much about boundaries around the outside as we are about what’s at the center, or, more correctly, who’s at the center: Jesus! And rather than people being “in or out,” we recognize that all of us are on a unique journey in proximity to the center. So, at Bluewater, if you arrive, you belong. We want to love and serve people wherever they are in proximity to the center and help them take steps in the direction of Jesus.