Jupiter Church Plant
Ryan and Lilly Fink
Ryan and Lilly first met in college at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Ryan grew up in the Palm Beach Gardens/Jupiter area, while Lilly grew up in Chattanooga, TN, moving down to PBA to play collegiate volleyball. They met as volunteer leaders with Young Life, a local outreach ministry for high school aged teens.
Both Ryan and Lilly were affirmed for church planting after a thorough assessment process at the denominational level by ECO - A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. Ryan and Lilly were married in the spring of 2023 and now call Jupiter their home.
Lilly is in her fourth year of teaching math at Jupiter High School, where she is also the head coach of the girl’s beach volleyball team. Since finishing seminary and graduating with an M.Div., Ryan now serves on staff at First Presbyterian Church – NPB as the Church Plant Resident.
Ryan is under the care of FPC’s Session as he finishes his ordination requirements. Both Ryan and Lilly share a deep love for the town of Jupiter and village of Tequesta as well as those who call it their home. They have a passion for those disconnected from faith communities and share a desire to create a local missional church community that points people to their worth through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our Vision
“To participate in God’s mission in the Jupiter area and see glimpses of Kingdom renewal by creating intentional community and pointing people towards their worth in Christ.”
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In the missio Dei, we see a Triune God who is actively on mission. In other words, the Creator of the cosmos is inherently a missionary God. Within the Trinity, we see that mission is central to who God is – that he is by nature “sending”. The Father sends the Son into the world, and the Father and the Son send the Spirit into the world. Now, the Spirit is sending us, the church. This mission does not exist for the church, but rather the church exists for this mission. As the church, we see our task to simply and faithfully join in on the work that the missionary God is already doing.
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We believe that God is in the business of not only saving souls, but also healing relationships as well as his entire creation. All of creation is heading somewhere, towards a destination: total restoration. This restoration has already begun with the inbreaking of the Kingdom through Jesus Christ but is still yet to be complete. As we join God is his mission of mending the world, we fully expect to see glimpses of Kingdom renewal both in the hearts of those we walk alongside and out in our community.
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In Jesus, we see a demonstration of the depths that God would go for us. We were created for relationship with God and meant to possess an identity that reflects that intimacy. However, we have strayed from and rejected that relationship and experience a confusion of our true identity and intended purpose to know, love, and glorify God. But the gospel reorients us back towards that relationship that we most deeply long for. Through his grace and love, Jesus actively seeks to restore our relationship with God. The result of this love is an understanding of inconceivable worth that is found in an identity as God’s beloved – as a daughter or son of a heavenly Father.
Six Core Values
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Rooted in Christ’s Love
The love of God revealed in Jesus and recorded in the Scriptures, is not just the message we preach, but the truth that transforms us. The good news of this love operates both inwardly and outwardly – inward as we journey to intimacy with God and outward to both speak and show others such a love that changes hearts.
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Intentional Community
As humans, we are made for community, both with God and with one another. In Jesus, we are offered a place in an entirely new community. The gospel creates community, and community is an expression of the gospel. Through facilitating and welcoming people into intentional community, we invite others to experience communion with God and fellowship with each other.
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Discipleship
We see discipleship as a process – a “long obedience in the same direction”. Along the discipleship journey, we become apprentices of Jesus and are thereby shaped into who and what God has made us to be. In this deliberate and slow process, we are committed to walking with people on this journey of becoming, wherever they are along the way.
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Mission Minded
In serving a God who is on mission, we too are missionally minded – compelled to reach people with the Gospel in both word and deed. We continually ask the question, “What is God up to in the town of Jupiter?” and seek to reflect the sacrificial, servant-minded, incarnational, and contextual aspects of Jesus’ ministry.
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Equipping People
God uses people in vastly different and exciting ways. We believe in coming alongside people to help them realize their unique God-given gifts and talents. As we do, we are committed to partnering with the Spirit to equip people to live lives that glorify God and seek to build His Kingdom in our community.
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Hospitality
We believe that because we were once strangers that Jesus welcomed to his table, we must extend the welcome of our table to the strangers in our community. In extending our living spaces to the strangers in our midst, we trust that God will indeed turn some of those strangers into both our friends and, more importantly, his friends. Hospitality reflects the gospel and since the gospel is for all people, we want to foster a community that welcomes people without preconditions and creates an culture of belonging. In giving and receiving hospitality, we learn to better love and be loved.
Connect With Us
We’d love to invite you to support what God is doing in the Jupiter/Tequesta area by praying, giving, or serving with us. There are exciting things ahead and if you’d like to explore more about where you might fit into this vision, connect with Ryan at rfink@firstpresnpb.org.