Every church stands on the shoulders of those who have come before. Mercy Commons would not exist if it were not for the vision, sacrifice, investment, and generosity of Southlands Church. In January 2014, Southlands Fullerton was established as a congregation of Southlands Church. This planting was anchored by the belief that the greatest way to see the great commission fulfilled is through planting churches. Because each city has a unique context in that they think, respond, and live in very different ways. Planting a congregation in Fullerton was designed to help us understand and serve the people living in it. Extending our gospel footprint to Fullerton allowed us to serve the city more effectively for the glory of God, but also enabled us to contextualize what repentance and faith look like in Fullerton.
After five healthy and fruitful years, it was agreed that Southlands Fullerton's next chapter was to be joyfully commissioned as Mercy Commons by the elders of Southlands in September 2019 as an autonomous local church within the Advance Movement.
With our commissioning, we carry forward the DNA and conviction of our founding church to raise leaders and plant churches both near and far.
Our church is part of the Advance Movement of churches, a partnership that plants and strengthens churches.
WHY “MERCY COMMONS”
“Mercy” is not a word you hear often. Justice is. We all groan for justice, as we should. We long for wrongs to be put right, for oppression to be upended, for evil to be punished. Until that is, we come to realize the depths of injustice within our hearts. That’s where we encounter our need for mercy — and the God who offers it to us.
God’s mercy is a foundational thing, a powerful thing. Mercy is not static. It’s active, it’s freely given, and it’s available to any and all, through repentance and a personal, interactive relationship with Jesus Christ. He has new mercy waiting for us every morning. It’s the kind of mercy that loves the liar, forgives its enemy, and seeks out the one in hiding. It was God’s mercy that moved Jesus to pray for the sick, preach to the poor, and cry out forgiveness for those crucifying him. It’s mercy that now propels us to be a force for the common good.
“Commons” is a resource belonging to and affecting all members of a community. It is a shared space of beauty and purpose, rights and responsibilities, care and commission. In this context, we, the church, are the “commons”—a place where all are welcome. A place where we embrace our identity as the common people of God. A people who have been rescued by his uncommon mercy.
Into this time, and into this city, God has sent us and commanded us to extend to others the same mercy we have received. This call to create a “commons” where mercy is freely offered extends beyond Fullerton. We come from a rich heritage of church-planting churches. It is our desire and intention to continue that legacy by partnering with God to raise leaders and see more communities of mercy planted in other cities, near and far.