About Signal Pres

The mission of Signal Mountain Pres Church is the same mission Jesus gave his followers: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

The vision of Signal Pres is to equip all people to live ordinary life as the faithful presence of Jesus’ love.

We submit to the authority of scripture.

We care for, serve and pray for each other in costly ways.

We grow disciples through worship, preaching, teaching in the context of relationships.

The opening paragraph of our denominations's Essentials of the Faith states that all scripture "requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life." This reverence for scripture flows out of our conviction about what the Bible is: the infallible word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, delivered to us as the rule for faith and life. Our submission to the authority of scripture shapes what we believe (the historic, Christian faith as expressed in the Westminster Confession), what we do (proclaim Christ, and life in him by grace through faith and repentance) and how we do it (in humility and love).

Of the many biblical pictures used to describe the Church, perhaps the one most clearly seen in the life and practice of Signal Pres is that of a family. We take seriously the words of Jesus: whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:35). As a result, in a world that increasingly divides itself into factions along lines of demographics and interests, we strive to extend the love of Jesus to one another in ways that reflect and embody the love of Christ that binds us together.

Despised tax collectors became part of God’s family. The sick were healed. The selfsufficient came to embrace their great need for mercy. Whether it was sudden (Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus) or gradual (Peter’s three year transformation from fisherman to apostle), one thing is clear: when people spent time with Jesus, they were changed. Knowing that this is still true, we place a high priority on the call to make disciples and on the means that God has given us through which Jesus is still present in his glory among us: corporate worship, the preaching and teaching of Scripture, the sacraments, and the relationships that he has given us with one another.

We welcome the next generation for the sake of God’s kingdom.

We embrace the call to do whatever it takes to make sure that everyone within our reach encounters the gospel.

We embrace our existence as a multi-generational church in a multi-generational community. Recognizing the importance of passing down the Faith to those coming after us, we promote and celebrate the kind of community in which all ages worship together, the widow teaches at Vacation Bible School, and adults commit to disciple students from middle school through high school.

The earthly beginnings of Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church extend back to the selfless donation of a piece of land so that men, women, and children within reach of that property could hear and be transformed by the power of the gospel. In the 90 years since then, that same spirit has found expression in the church built upon that piece of land, even as the reach of the church has expanded to include the entirety of Signal Mountain, the city of Chattanooga and the whole world. In the 90 years ahead, we look forward to carrying on the same missional spirit upon which we were founded to our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our city and our world.