Our church has always had a vision... "To be a Regional church and educational center with community transforming influence sending people across the street and around the world."
It began in 1984 when a young couple believed God had put a call on their life to minister to the people of Gilroy, California. Eric and Carol Smith established SVCC and served faithfully as Senior Pastors for over 3 decades before passing the baton to new leadership. They remain Pastors Emeritus.
Our values are simple: We are Gospel Centered and Mission Focused. Our purpose as a church is to simply "Love God and Love People". We get that purpose from the words of Jesus in Matthew 22 where Jesus was asked,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
We realize that Jesus has made it simple for us. However, putting simple words into action can be easier said than done. It takes a nurturing community to support those who are striving to follow Christ's words in this world. This is why South Valley Community Church exists: To proclaim the gospel and make disciples.
We teach clearly that if we love God, we will always express it in love for others. We rescue the idea of mission from being the "guilt-laden" task that it has become. We disciple each other so we understand our vocation, expressing the gospel in our culture where we are agents of influence for the kingdom.
We model generosity with our whole life in relationship with God. We look to enable people in their unique skills, experience, and gifting for the purpose of generous living. We pastor all believers as missionaries and equip and train their hearts and minds for their task.
We educate the church on its “missional” identity as the people of God who have been called to be responsible and accountable for our community. We model a proclamation lifestyle in order to influence others to engage in their missional task of living as “proclaimers.” We are not to be like the surrounding culture nor are we to isolate from it.
