WHO WE ARE
Antioch is a global family of Spirit-led and biblically based churches that embrace every nation, tribe, people and language. We are committed to the person of Jesus, to His rule and reign in all aspects of our lives and to living out His values in community. God has called us to be a multiplying, church-planting movement through whom He brings transformation to personal lives, families, neighborhoods and every sphere of society in our city, nation and nations for the glory of God.
Practically, we function with a framework we call the 5 Circles of a Healthy Church. It’s simply a holistic church model that clarifies how every person can participate in a healthy and full relationship with Jesus across the breadth of the life of the Church (the body of Christ). If you want to learn more, check out our Sermon Series.
We have a strong value for what we call Lifegroups - small groups of people who gather together on a weekly basis. They focus on living in the context of community to encounter God, grow as a disciple of Jesus, and live on mission.
PARENTS
KIDS
YOUTH
COLLEGE
YOUNG ADULTS
ADULTS
OUR STORY
Antioch Community Church of Norman was planted April 19, 2009 with a vision to be a family on a mission to disciple a city and the nations of the earth.
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AS MORE PEOPLE ENCOUNTER THE LOVE OF GOD, WE BELIEVE IT WILL TRANSFORM NORMAN
In the late 1980s, a group of former Baylor students in Waco, Texas with a passion for making disciples and seeing the love of God taken to every nation started Antioch Ministries International (“AMI”). These students believed that the local church was the primary way God intended to draw people to Himself and transform societies. Since then, AMI has trained and sent hundreds of missionaries all over the world, seen thousands of people come to know Jesus, and planted almost 100 churches in the United States and overseas.
Almost 20 years later and after several years in student ministry, Chris and Julie Bennett felt God calling them to raise up a team and plant a church. AMI’s vision for changing the world through the local church aligned with what God had put in their hearts, so they led a team of college students and young adults through the AMI training schools in Waco. While there, the team clearly felt God was leading them to plant a church in Norman, Oklahoma that would transform the city and reach the nations of the world with the love of Jesus.ANTIOCH COMMUNITY CHURCH OF NORMAN
Antioch Community Church of Norman was launched in April of 2009 through vision rallies in a living room. Since then, the church has grown to hundreds of people passionately worshipping God every week on Sunday and in dozens of Lifegroups throughout the city during the week… and this is just the beginning! As more and more people encounter the love of God, we believe it will transform Norman and eventually spread from here to around the world. We are excited that you are on this journey with us because we believe that with God the best is truly yet to be!
OUR MOVEMENT
Antioch is a multiplying church-planting movement that seeks to reach the nations of the earth by making disciples that encounter God, disciple others, and live on mission through the local church.
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Antioch Norman is part of the Antioch International Movement of Churches, a network of churches both state-side and international that is connected by relationship and a belief that the local church is God’s instrument in bringing the hope and life of Jesus to a world in need.
The Antioch Movement, which began more than 20 years ago, now has more than 140 full-time workers around the world in 22 countries as well as a growing family of churches across the U.S. - each dedicated to seeing the local church reproduce the Kingdom of God through evangelism and discipleship.Two decades ago a small group of believers asked the radical question, “What would our lives look like if we said ‘yes’ to everything God said?” And as the first yes led to the second yes, a church was born. Next, an entire movement.
Today, Antioch churches all over the world are still connected by our “yes.” We all share a love for Jesus, one another, and those who have not yet encountered Him. We’ve seen the sick healed, broken families restored, and communities instilled with hope.
We know we’ve only scratched the surface of what God wants to do over the next decade as we stick close to the Holy Spirit, build our lives together, and live on mission.
OUR BELIEFS
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We believe that the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament, are “breathed out” by God and are the inspired, authoritative, living, eternally reliable written Word of God. The Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of mankind, and the final authority for all Christian faith and life. (Matthew 5:18; John 10:35, 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
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We believe in one true God who exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are equal in essence, deity, and power. All three are uncreated and execute distinct but harmonious offices and roles. (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; Psalm 102:27; 1 Timothy 1:17; John 1:1-2, 8:58; Hebrews 1:8, 9:14; 1 John 1:2; Revelation 1:8)
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We believe that God is the loving creator of all things, both visible and invisible, and now upholds, sustains, governs, and providentially directs all that exists and that He will bring all things to their proper consummation in Christ Jesus to the glory of His name. God is distinct from His creation yet everywhere present, omniscient over all time, and wholly sovereign. He is the everlasting King who reigns over the nations and whose Kingdom endures from generation to generation. (Colossians 1:15-16; Jeremiah 10:10; Daniel 4:34; Psalm 47:7-8)
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We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, who is God incarnate, fully God and fully man. He existed before time, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and offered himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins through His death on the cross. By the blood of His cross He displayed the relentless and fierce love of God, satisfied the justice and wrath of God, obtained for us eternal redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins, spiritual adoption as sons and daughters, life everlasting, and defeated Satan and the powers of darkness. Jesus was physically raised from the dead on the third day as prophesied, ascended to the right hand of the Father, intercedes for the saints as the sole mediator between God and man. He will return visibly to the earth, establish His eternal Kingdom, whereby every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Isaiah 53:1-12; Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1-18; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:10-14; Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 1:15-23, 2:15; Hebrews 7:25, 9:13-15, 10:19; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 1 John 2:1-2, 3:8)
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We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, equal with the Father and Son whose primary ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit also convicts unbelievers of their need for Christ and imparts spiritual life to all who believe in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells every true believer as a guarantee of their future inheritance, guides and leads them, imparts spiritual gifts, anoints and empowers believers to be witnesses for Jesus Christ and to minister to one another, and transforms the lives of all believers into the image of Jesus. (Matthew 3:11; John 1:12-13, 3:1-15, 15:26-27, 16:7-15; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:4-13; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13-14, 5:18; Galatians 5:22-23)
We believe that the Holy Spirit baptizes all believers in the Body of Christ and is the permanent indwelling presence of God in every believer of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is our abiding Helper, Teacher, and Comforter. We also believe in the filling or the empowering of the Holy Spirit, often a conscious experience, for ministry today. We believe in the present ministry of the Spirit and in the exercise of all of the Biblical gifts of the Spirit for spiritual growth, effective ministry, and for the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel. The gifts of the Spirit are to be eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines. (John 14:12; Acts 2:14-21, 4:29-30; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 12:28-31, 14:1-33; Galatians 3:1-5)
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We believe that Adam and Eve were created by a direct and immediate act of God and in the image of God, righteous and without sin. We believe that man by transgression fell from a state of righteousness and holiness in which he was first created into total spiritual depravity. Therefore all people are born in a state of death in their trespasses and sins, objects of God’s divine wrath, condemned as sinners by nature and by choice, a slave to sin and an enemy of God. As such, mankind is unable to save themselves or to contribute in any way by their own efforts but must be redeemed and delivered by the power of the gospel. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:4; Romans 3:10-13, 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:1-3)
We believe that the gospel is the good news of what God has accomplished for sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. The gospel is centered on Christ's work on the cross. Salvation is given by God’s grace, mercy, and love, and received solely by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We believe “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). When a person becomes a follower of Jesus, they are redeemed, declared wholly righteous, born again, made alive in Christ as a new creature, reconciled to God, adopted as a child of God, and filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit through whom they are empowered for a life of obedience.
We further believe that the emphasis for a continuous walk in grace should be ongoing through demonstrating righteousness and purity of heart, believing in the keeping power of God, walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh, living a lifestyle that demonstrates the character, standards and convictions of Jesus Christ, and not being conformed to the world. (Jude 24; Romans 8:25; Galatians 5:16-25; Romans 4:1-5, 12:1-2) -
We believe that the universal Church is the Bride of Christ and is comprised of all true disciples of Jesus Christ in every age. Jesus is the head of His church. The local expression of the church is comprised of disciples gifted for the work of ministry and building up the body of Christ, living in unity, bound together by love. The Church is also God's primary instrument through which He is fulfilling His redemptive purposes in the earth. While different local expressions may have different emphases, we believe that God has called the Church to preach the gospel to all nations, and especially to remember the poor and to minister to their needs through sacrificial giving and practical service. We also affirm the priesthood of all believers and the importance of every Christian being joined with and actively involved in a local community of the saints. (Isaiah 58:6-12, 61:1; Matthew 16:17-19, 28:18-20; Luke 4:18, 21:1-4; Acts 2:17-18, 42; Galatians 2:10; Ephesians 3:14-21, 4:11-16; 1 Timothy 6:8; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10)
We believe that water baptism and communion are the two ordinances of the church to be observed until the time of Christ's return. They are visible signs representing spiritual truths; that is, they are not a means of salvation but are channels of experiencing God's sanctifying grace and blessing. Baptism symbolizes a believer’s conversion and that they have died to their old life and have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in which the power of sin is broken. Communion is the present proclamation of Christ’s atoning death, and looks forward to his return. (Matthew
26:26-29, 28:19; Romans 6:3-11; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34; 1 Peter 3:21) -
We believe that the Kingdom of God has come in the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and that it continues to come in the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the Church. The Kingdom will be consummated in the glorious, visible and triumphant appearing of Jesus when He returns to the earth as the true King. The mission of every believer is to partner with the Holy Spirit to extend the Kingdom of God upon the earth for the glory of God. (Matthew 4:23, 12:2, 28:19-20; Acts 1:1-8, 2:14-39; Romans 14:17-18; Mark 13:26)
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We believe that Satan, originally a great and good angel, rebelled against God, taking a multitude of angels with him. He was cast out of God's presence and is actively at work with his demonic hosts to establish a counter-kingdom of darkness and evil on the earth in opposition to God’s Kingdom. Satan is the enemy of the church and wars against followers of Jesus through lies, condemnation, temptation, and bondage. He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan was judged and defeated at the cross of Christ and will, at the end of the age, be cast forever into the lake of fire which has been prepared for him and his angels. (Matthew 12:25-29, 25:41; John 12:31, 16:11; Ephesians 6:10-20; Colossians 2:15; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 12:7-9, 20:10)
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We believe in the visible return of Jesus in which He will bring about the ultimate defeat of Satan, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment. At the final judgment, the unrepentant are raised to be judged by God in which they will receive an eternal, conscious punishment and separation from the presence of God in the Lake of Fire. For believers, they will receive their glorified bodies, give an account of their lives to receive their eternal rewards, and enter into joy of the everlasting, personal presence of God in His kingdom. At that time, the Kingdom of God will be completely fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth, in which righteousness dwells and in which He will be worshipped forever. This is the hope for which we long, which helps to motivate us now toward godly living, and which propels us to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with a lost and dying world. (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, 50-58; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12; Revelation 19:1-21)
OUR LEADERSHIP
Blake Slatten
Lead Pastor
Blake and Lauren Slatten have been married for 12 years and are raising their four children—Brix (10), Ivy (8), Rone (6), and Cru (5). He has been serving in ministry for more than 17 years and earned his degree in Ethics from Mid-America Christian University. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Theological Studies at Liberty University. He is deeply passionate about reaching the lost, making disciples, and planting churches. Blake and his family love leading overseas mission trips, and he has led more than 20 trips to 12 different countries.
Andrew Tiffany
Executive Pastor
ELDERS
Jake Hartsock