We have the same philosophy today that we have had since the beginning of this local church in 1970. It is based upon the commission given by Jesus just prior to His ascension, recorded in many Scriptures (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-20; Luke 24:44-53; John 20:21-23, 30-31; Acts 1:8-11). Fairfax Baptist Temple exists to glorify God and to evangelize the world. To fulfill the commission we must go where the people are and we must explain clearly the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Those that believe are to be added to the local church after being baptized by immersion, and then taught to be obedient to the Word of God. We believe that the manner of fulfilling the Great Commission is through church planting. This is the story of the Acts of the Apostles. The epistles provide instruction to the churches concerning doctrine and practice. The pattern for the ministry of the missionary established in the New Testament is that the man arrives in a place where there is not a church, plants a church, turns it over to local leadership, and goes to another place to begin the process again. The missionary properly has an on-going relationship with the churches, but he is not to remain in one church filling the office of the pastor. We understand the role and function of the missionary to be different from that of the pastor. A man called to be a pastor will remain in one church for a long time. While there he will seek to do the work of an evangelist by sending out men from his congregation to be either missionaries, evangelists, or pastors.