All About Us

SHARE GOD'S LOVE

John Knox has a warm, friendly, welcoming atmosphere. However, this “secret” has yet to be realized by many in our greater surrounding community. As a church on the move to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are committed to increasing awareness in our community as well as enhancing the spiritual life of our present members and friends. As we live in the 21st century, our tasks and goals are centered on fulfilling God’s calling for our community of faith in new and exciting ways, while preserving our rich traditional heritage. We see the need to focus our attention on reaching the unchurched and younger population of our neighborhood. Therefore we have adopted the willingness to change, not for change sake, but to present the gospel to those among us, and who are in need of it, in more creative ways.

The congregation of John Knox Church consists of approximately 156 communicant members. They fall into the following age brackets 0-2 (3%), 3-22 (26%), 23-43 (7%), 43-61 (36%), 62 and older (27%). We are primarily comprised of nuclear family units whereas the norm for our geographic area has a greater number of single parents / adults. We need to guide our faith community to ministries that meet the experience and needs of single parents, single adults and diverse ethnic groups. Our congregation is highly educated compared to the broader community. Economically, members of John Knox come from middle class backgrounds and many families have two income earners. Recently, many members have entered retirement status. Overall, we are in a geographical area that is struggling economically to survive with the most basic of necessities. A majority of the congregation lives within 6-7 miles of the church. This area encompasses several suburbs and school districts.

We are located on one of the busiest thoroughfares of the Town of Greece, just west of the shopping malls. Greece, with a fairly stable population of over 100,000, houses a professional and skilled labor force. Nearby towns and school districts are in close proximity and easily accessible to Greece residents for employment, shopping, etc. The larger Rochester area, including its suburbs, is metropolitan in nature and has a population of nearly 1.1 million. A number of large corporations in the Rochester area have downsized and this has had some impact on families of the congregation.

Our worship has been pretty much traditional in style with some periodic contemporary elements added. We have intentionally decided to move toward a more blended service by incorporating both of these elements in our Sunday services.

Our Sunday school has very competent faith-based teachers and is an effective program but is small in the number of attendees. We need to reach more children and adults to attend established classes and offer a variety of new classes to meet specific needs or topics of the attendees.

We are a very healthy church when it comes to mission involvement both on the local and national levels. Yet there is room for improvement. We have decided to increase our involvement on the international level. We anticipate taking on an increased awareness and support of our adopted missionaries.

Stepping outside of our communal comfort zone into the unknown is at best uncomfortable and at worst frightening. Yet God’s message tells us not to be afraid, but to hold on to courage and faithfulness and to follow Christ as he leads us on this journey together.

Therefore, as people called by God, both as individuals and as a body of Christ, we open our doors, our minds, and our hearts to persons we see as strangers. This requires us to change ourselves as Christian disciples, be willing to be transformed by the experience of embracing strangers, and become more accepting of other people’s values and behavior, so long as both are acceptable to God and consistent with Christian teaching.

Our mission is to share the glory of God’s love
with all His people
through scripture, prayer,
fellowship and service.


	*SHARE GOD'S LOVE* John Knox has a warm, friendly, welcoming atmosphere. However, this “secret” has yet to be realized by many in our greater surrounding community. As a church on the move to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are committed to increasing awareness in our community as well as enhancing the spiritual life of our present members and friends. As we live in the 21st century, our tasks and goals are centered on fulfilling God’s calling for our community of faith in new and exciting ways, while preserving our rich traditional heritage. We see the need to focus our attention on reaching the unchurched and younger population of our neighborhood. Therefore we have adopted the willingness to change, not for change sake, but to present the gospel to those among us, and who are in need of it, in more creative ways. The congregation of John Knox Church consists of approximately 156 communicant members. They fall into the following age brackets 0-2 (3%), 3-22 (26%), 23-43 (7%), 43-61 (36%), 62 and older (27%). We are primarily comprised of nuclear family units whereas the norm for our geographic area has a greater number of single parents / adults. We need to guide our faith community to ministries that meet the experience and needs of single parents, single adults and diverse ethnic groups. Our congregation is highly educated compared to the broader community. Economically, members of John Knox come from middle class backgrounds and many families have two income earners. Recently, many members have entered retirement status. Overall, we are in a geographical area that is struggling economically to survive with the most basic of necessities. A majority of the congregation lives within 6-7 miles of the church. This area encompasses several suburbs and school districts. We are located on one of the busiest thoroughfares of the Town of Greece, just west of the shopping malls. Greece, with a fairly stable population of over 100,000, houses a professional and skilled labor force. Nearby towns and school districts are in close proximity and easily accessible to Greece residents for employment, shopping, etc. The larger Rochester area, including its suburbs, is metropolitan in nature and has a population of nearly 1.1 million. A number of large corporations in the Rochester area have downsized and this has had some impact on families of the congregation. Our worship has been pretty much traditional in style with some periodic contemporary elements added. We have intentionally decided to move toward a more blended service by incorporating both of these elements in our Sunday services. Our Sunday school has very competent faith-based teachers and is an effective program but is small in the number of attendees. We need to reach more children and adults to attend established classes and offer a variety of new classes to meet specific needs or topics of the attendees. We are a very healthy church when it comes to mission involvement both on the local and national levels. Yet there is room for improvement. We have decided to increase our involvement on the international level. We anticipate taking on an increased awareness and support of our adopted missionaries. Stepping outside of our communal comfort zone into the unknown is at best uncomfortable and at worst frightening. Yet God’s message tells us not to be afraid, but to hold on to courage and faithfulness and to follow Christ as he leads us on this journey together. Therefore, as people called by God, both as individuals and as a body of Christ, we open our doors, our minds, and our hearts to persons we see as strangers. This requires us to change ourselves as Christian disciples, be willing to be transformed by the experience of embracing strangers, and become more accepting of other people’s values and behavior, so long as both are acceptable to God and consistent with Christian teaching. Our mission is to share the glory of God’s love with all His people through scripture, prayer, fellowship and service.
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