About Us

Our Vision

Our vision is to be a contemporary, Christ-centered, Bible-based community. We are a diverse fellowship committed to representing the love of Jesus Christ as we dare to imagine and create a better society for our families, our communities, and the world.

Learn More about 2023 Vision

Our Mission

To connect people to Jesus Christ, empowering them to dare to imagine and live a better life.

Our Core Values

We Dare to Imagine
We Dare to Teach and Live the Bible
We Dare to Be Proactive in Evangelism
We Dare to Praise God and Be Creative in Worship
We Dare to Love, Fellowship, and Value Community
We Dare to Be Authentic
We Dare to Produce Change Agents
We Dare to Be Excellent
We Dare to Be Relevant, Accessible, and Tech-Friendly
We Dare to Be Faithful
We Dare to Bless Others Through Our Gifts

Our Story

Founded on November 30, 2014, Dare to Imagine Church, Inc. began when our Pastor Kevin and Kimya Johnson invited 20 people to their home to hear the vision God had given for a contemporary, Christ-centered church in Philadelphia. A month later on December 28, 2014, Dare to Imagine held its first worship experience at the home of Jerry and Raye Johnson in Bryn Mawr, PA. Seventy-two people attended and 57 people joined, becoming the initial founding members of the church.

Because of the rapid growth of Dare to Imagine, our community had to quickly find a temporary home and began worshiping at in West Philadelphia at First District Plaza from January 4, 2015 until Dare to Imagine purchased on May 25, 2017 its 6.8-acre campus for $2.2 million in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. Dare to Imagine held it’s first worship experience at the campus on June 4, 2017.

In just nine years, Dare to Imagine has grown from 20 people who came to hear the vision to over 1,500 members. Given how God has moved at Dare to Imagine and used us to bless our region and world, we firmly believe in 1 Corinthians 2:9,

“no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love Him.”

We are thankful to God that our story is ever evolving. Life is better when you dare to imagine, and we are just getting started!

Our Faith Beliefs

There Is One True God

God is called by many different names because of the different dimensions of His personality, but God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). God is super-dimensional and eternally self-existent (Jn. 8:54-59). God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1&2). While God is one, He has revealed Himself in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

Jesus Christ is the Son of God

Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God. The Scripture declares His virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-23); His sinless life (Hebrews 7:26 & I Peter 2:22 & I John 3:4,5); His miracles (Acts 2:22 & 10:37-38); His substitutionary death on the cross (II Corinthians 5:21 & I Peter 2:24 & I Corinthians 15:4); His bodily resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:1-6 & I Corinthians 15:4); and His exaltation to the right hand of God (Acts 1:9,11 & Philippians 2:9-11).

The Bible is the Inspired Word of God

The Old and New Testament are verbally inspired by God, the only written revelation from God to man. The Bible is infallible and the authoritative rule of faith and conduct for mankind (II Timothy 3:15-17, I Thessalonians 2:13 & Peter 1:21).

Fall of Humankind

Humankind was created in the image of God (Genesis 2:26). However, by a voluntary act of the will, Adam and Eve disobeyed God (Genesis 3:6). That first sin had several repercussions. Adam and Eve were excommunicated from the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23), a curse was pronounced (Genesis 3:14-19) and the process of physical death (Genesis 2:17) and spiritual death (Romans 5:12-19) resulted. Sin separated humankind from God (Ephesians 2:11-18) and left us in a fallen or sinful condition (Romans 3:23).

Salvation

The only means of salvation is Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12 & John 14:6). He died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins (I Peter 2:24). He offers each of us a pardon for our sins (Hebrews 9:26) and wants us to become children of God (John 1:12). When we are saved, we become a new creation (II Cor. 5:17) and are transformed into the image of Christ (II Cor. 3:18).

Baptism

The Scripture teaches that all who repent and believe in Christ are to be baptized by immersion (Matthew 28:19). Baptism is a public profession of faith in Christ. It is symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is a declaration to the world that we have died to sin and have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

Communion

The Lord’s table consists of two elements: the bread and cup. Those elements are symbolic of the body and blood of Christ. Communion is a memorial of Christ’s sufferings on the cross and a celebration of our salvation. It is an opportunity for a believer to examine himself and experience forgiveness.

The Church and Its Mission

The Church is the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:12-27) and has a three-fold purpose: To evangelize the world (Acts 1:8 & Mark 16:15-16), to worship God (I Cor. 12:13), and to equip for ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16 & I Cor. 12:28, 14:12).

Generosity

We believe that tithes, offerings, and alms are God’s financial plan for the support of His work. (Malachi 3:10; Matthew 23:23; 2 Corinthians 9:6-12)