Get To Know Us!
Our Mission & Vision
Safe Harbor exists to reach people with the Gospel and to connect them to faith in Christ; to teach the truth of the Bible and to Glorify God through worship; to show God’s love by serving in the church and our community. The vision is that we would “Make Christ Known, and Equip His Followers.”
Leadership Team:
Our leadership team recognizes the authority of God, and realizes that we are shepherds who serve under the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We desire to devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. Our passion and goal is to equip the believers for the work of the ministry until we all attain maturity in the fullness of Christ.
Dwayne Russell, Lead Pastor
As the primary teaching pastor, Pastor Dwayne has a passion for carefully unpacking the truths of Scripture. He has served at Safe Harbor since August 2006. He and his wife MaryAnn have two grown children and continue in a ministry of foster parenting. They have been serving the Lord in ministry for more than sixteen years in various roles of leadership.
What we believe:
About God
We believe in God Almighty. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Ruler of the universe. He is holy love, which means that He is both set apart from us as well as committed to us and present with us. He exists eternally in three persons referred to in church history as the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are co-equal and are one God.
About Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God who was and is the Word made flesh to dwell among us. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus’ conception was miraculous; He lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven and will return again in victory and judgment.
About the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every follower of Christ from the moment of conversion. He provides the follower with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in making wise choices. He gives every believer spiritual gifts to bless others. As followers of Christ, we seek to live under His control daily.
About the Bible
The Bible is God’s complete and comprehensive revelation of Himself to humanity. Although God is constantly revealing Himself even today, His revelation will never divert from what has already been revealed in the Bible. It is the story of redemption from start to finish. The Bible is God-breathed and is therefore inerrant in truth and meaning, making it fully reliable for teaching, training, rebuking and instructing in righteousness.
About Salvation
Salvation is the beginning point and continual process of our eternal life relationship with God that brings about Connection, Healing and Development. Salvation is available to anyone who follows Christ by believing in their hearts and confessing with their lips that Jesus is Lord. Salvation is a work of the Father, by the sacrifice and victory of the Son, which is prompted, in the human experience, by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the (only) Way, the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
About Human Beings
All People are created in the image of God. The introduction of sin into the human experience caused a break in the relationship between God and people. This is the human reality. This break in relationship, brought on by human sin, causes many harmful wounds in the human experience. This break in relationship is the situation that makes Christ’s life, death, resurrection and continuous reality so important. Without Christ, humanity is separated from God with no eternal hope. When the relationship is brought together through Christ, human beings can live a life of eternal hope. Human beings are eternal beings. We will exist eternally either with God or separated from Him.
Doctrinal Beliefs
Safe Harbor Baptist Fellowship affirms the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message