Yet true, gracious holiness is an indispensable tool for assurance, edification, and evangelism. And as it languishes in our local congregations, our consequent hypocrisy makes the church's witness ambiguous, her voice dissonant, and her presence therefore increasingly irrelevant amid the very culture she has been commissioned to reach.

The mission of 9Marks, then, is to call the church to be the attractive bride of Christ that He has bought her to be. We want to do this by instructing and encouraging pastors and other church leaders in the discovery and application of the biblical principles and priorities that God has designed to cultivate and irrigate the joyful holiness that should adorn the church.

More specifically, we want to serve pastors and other church leaders by refocusing attention on the value of healthy congregations. As we do this, we want to encourage leaders to re-think the biblical nature, purpose, and leadership structures of the church, and to reconnect careful biblical theology with the kind of responsible church practice that preserves and protects the beauty of Christ's bride.

9Marks provides an educational forum to discuss, examine and debate the elements of a healthy local church. In addition to teaching, we want to present a working model that is constantly being reformed by the Word of God. The four primary channels through which we seek to demonstrate this healthy church model include:

Media: downloadable web resources, audio interviews, e-newsletter, educational curriculum

Study: training weekends, conferences, internships, think tanks

Publishing:· books, pamphlets, papers

Outreach: On-site visits, phone conversations