Rincon Mountain Presbyterian

About

RMPC is a church that seeks to be the best church it can be for our community. We desire to continue to be internally strong so that we can excel at being externally focused. We equip the body of Christ to engage the community for Christ.

Story

Thanks for showing interest in God’s work in Tucson, Arizona. We are a group of Christ-followers who are passionate about seeing families grow in their knowledge of the gospel. This information page has been designed to help you get to know Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church and Tucson a little better.

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Arizona is the 32nd largest city in the U.S. and sits in the Santa Cruz River valley at 2,389 ft. The city is surrounded by five mountain ranges and is bordered by Catalina State Park, Coronado National Forest, Saguaro National Park East and Saguaro National Park West, and the Tohono O'odham Nation. We are about an hour north of Mexico and 2 hours from New Mexico. Tucson is known as the sunniest city in the United States. According to recent studies, Tucson is the 7th least churched city in the U.S. We are excited to be part of a church planting movement in this city that is eager to reach the city for Christ. You can find out more about the city at visittucson.org.

The Vision of the Church

A tour of our other portions of our church website will acquaint you with the history of our church and with many of the ministries available in our church. You’ll also find there our mission and vision and core values. In case you missed it, we believe we exist to equip every person who attends our church to engage the community around us with the gospel. Our various ministries are designed to equip those who participate in them with a clear understanding of the gospel and with the tools and skills to engage with the local community.

Family Oriented

We are a family oriented church that particularly seeks to assist parents in the discipleship of their children and to reach struggling families in our community. Our church building is located in far northwest Tucson so we don’t encounter many of the issues of urban churches. Rather, we encounter the issues of suburbia which include but are not limited to debt, domestic violence, drug use and divorce. We believe God has called us to be a healing and restorative influence in the city of Tucson.

Worship

We have one worship service each Sunday morning. In our worship service we currently utilize worship teams to lead the worship. Our style of worship is best characterized as a blend between hymns and contemporary praise songs. Believing that the congregation should be involved in the dialogue of worship, our liturgy offers opportunity for a great deal of congregational participation. We also have evening worship services on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of every month. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper on third Sundays at the morning worship service and at every evening service. We use a split tray offering both wine and grape juice when serving communion.

Christian Education

We offer Christian education from the youngest to the eldest of our attendees. The nursery is directed by a volunteer in the church but we do have one paid staff person throughout every Sunday morning. She is assisted by volunteer staff in the active engagement of our infants and toddlers. The children’s ministry is overseen by a part-time director and staffed by volunteers. The children’s ministry involves children’s Sunday school (K-5th grade), children’s worship (ages 3 to first grade), monthly play groups and an annual Vacation Bible School. The youth ministry is overseen by a full-time director and staffed by volunteers. Middle school youth currently meet every other Friday and high school youth meet every Wednesday night. They each meet separately on Sunday morning for Sunday school.

The Adult Christian Education typically offers three ‘electives’ to the adults each quarter: one class on the Bible, one class on a theological or apologetic topic, and one class of a topical nature. We have been blessed with many gifted teachers in our church.

LIFE Groups

We have a strong small groups ministry in the church. Over 80% of the congregation is actively involved in a LIFE group. LIFE groups typically meet for fellowship, prayer and service although many also involve Bible study. Each of our life groups is currently using The Gospel-Centered Life by Bob Thune and Will Walker to guide their discussions.

Finances and Facility

In an era in which many churches and non-profits are struggling to meet budget or survive God has allowed Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church to thrive. Income has exceeded expenses every year and we have meet budget the last three years. This past year giving exceeded budget by approximately 5%. Our budget has hovered right around $600,000 the last 3-4 years. We are very privileged and blessed to own 18 beautiful acres of land and an 8-year-old facility. 100% of our electricity is paid for by solar energy. We also host a community garden for the local community garden organization.

Leadership

Our congregation is fortunate to have able and godly men serve our church as elders and deacons. Our elected officers serve a three-year term with the option to serve an additional term or take a one-year sabbatical. The deacons meet once a month to report on their activities and to cast vision for future work. The Session meets twice a month; the first meeting is the ‘business’ meeting and the second meeting is a ‘shepherding’ meeting. The Session and diaconate meet together every other month to discuss matters of mutual interest and to encourage each other. You can see their photos on the elders and deacons page on the website.

Transitions!

We will have two new pastoral staff members join our team this year. We just sent out our first church planter, Luke Evans, to plant Christ Church in NE San Antonio, TX. Luke and his wife, Marianne, served with us here in Tucson for six years before being sent out to do this new work. Filling his shoes--and more--will be Luke Smith. You can read about him and his journey here. Luke Smith will be teaching, preaching, doing adminstrative work and helping lead our music ministry.

In addition, our youth director for the last four years, Nick Dunlap, has decided to teach full time in a local classical Christian school. We are currently searching for his replacement.

Mission

Our vision is: Equip To Engage. It is based on Ephesians 4:11, 12 where the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus gave gifts to the church of the apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor/teachers "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ..."

We believe that the best way to fulfill the vision God has given us at Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church is through being Christ in our community:

As his voice: a strong ministry of the proclamation of and instruction in the Word of God;
As his body: an intimate ministry of fellowship and care;
As his hands: an active outreach of service and mercy to the city of Tucson through word and deed ministry; and
As his feet: a supporting and sending local and global missions ministry