Following Jesus. As a family. For Asheville.
“To live a vision continuously requires a vow.” — Tyler Staton
The early church was called “The Way”—a shared way of believing, living, and worshipping that flowed out of Jesus himself. At Alabaster, membership means committing to a shared Rule of Life—not a legalistic checklist, but a grace-filled vow to become a certain kind of people together. We want to raise the “minimum standard of discipleship” for our church and its members – while in a gracious way that allows for varying stages of life – still invites all to a greater life of worship.
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Our rule of life is built around our Mission, of Following Jesus, as a family, for Asheville. We have built this rule around 9 practices, rhythms, or habits.
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Now while all of these practices bleed and blend together to the three aspects of our mission, we’ve found it helpful to root them in one. So for instance, while prayer is something we do together, we fix it under following Jesus rather than For Asheville - not because we don’t intercede for our city, or not under Family - not because we don’t pray together - but simply to highlight that this practice is first and foremost about how we follow Jesus. Similarly, sabbath is under as family, in order to emphasize it is not a day of solitude primarily, but joyful delight which we best do with others as a family. etc. Or as a finale example, while Service is part of us following Jesus, and we certainly will embrace this practice together, it’s end goal and motivation is serving the city of Asheville.
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These baseline practices shape the basis for church membership and Core Group participation—how we gently, graciously hold one another in love and alignment.
Following Jesus into communion with God in a culture of distraction and escapism