Meet our Leaders and Staff
Rev. James Richards, Senior Pastor & Candice RichardsBorn and raised in Jamaica, Pastor James and his dear wife Candice migrated to the United States in 2008. Shortly after their arrival, God opened the door for them to lead a team of seminary students from Clarks Summit University/Baptist Bible Seminary to start Mountain Stream Baptist Church – an intentionally multi-ethnic congregation in the Poconos, Pennsylvania, where Pastor James continues to serve as the Senior Pastor.
Pastor James and Candice are passionate about seeing people come to Christ and mature in Him. Their focus in ministry is to help people discover the Bible’s path to successfully living for Christ. Pastor James and Candice love the Lord and love ministering to people. They consider it a privilege to be counted among the servants of God. They’d love to have you join them for worship one Sunday soon. Contact Pastor James Richards at [email protected] |
DEACONS
Phil Correa Nick Ditaranto Nick Smith Gary Thorne Tom Watson TREASURER Lina Scibelli FINANCIAL SECRETARY Phil Correa CHURCH SECRETARY Lori Ditaranto 
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Our Doctrine
- The Bible is God’s Word, verbally inspired, inerrant and sufficient.
- The one true and living God exists in three persons.
- Jesus is fully God and fully man, virgin born and sinless.
- The Holy Spirit is a divine person who regenerates, indwells and empowers.
- All people are sinners by nature and choice, thus condemned to die.
- Only Christ’s substitutionary death and bodily resurrection can save us. We are saved by grace alone through trusting in Christ alone.
- The local church is God’s plan for building up believers and reaching the lost.
- The second coming of Jesus will be personal, visible and to set up His earthly kingdom.
- Satan is a real person, created by God yet fallen. Heaven and Hell are real literal eternal places.
CLICK HERE TO READ OUR DETAILED DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
Our Mission
We aim to glorify God by helping each person grow into maturity in their relationship with Jesus.
"Him (Christ) we proclaim warning everyone,
and teaching everyone in all wisdom,
that we may present everyone mature in Christ."
Colossians 1:28"
"Him (Christ) we proclaim warning everyone,
and teaching everyone in all wisdom,
that we may present everyone mature in Christ."
Colossians 1:28"
Our Vision
We are striving to be a strong, biblical church that reflects the diversity of our community, engaging in authentic worship, caring fellowship, relevant outreach and ministry to our community and the world beyond
Our Values
SUFFICIENT SCRIPTURE:
Because the Word of God is our perfect guide and standard for life and eternity, we will preach and teach it intelligibly and practically in our corporate worship, and diligently study and apply it in our private lives. (II Timothy 3:16)
AUTHENTIC WORSHIP:
Because God desires people to worship Him in spirit and in truth, we will design our public worship services to provide opportunities to honestly encounter God on a personal level incorporating both mind and emotion. Because we also recognize that worship is a way of life and not just something that takes place in a designated service, we will strive to live lives that actively praise the Lord in our day-to-day affairs. (John 4:24)
FERVENT PRAYER:
Because prayer facilitates vital communication with God, we will engage in corporate and personal prayer, trusting God to respond as He has promised. (Philippians 4:6)
TRANSFORMED LIVING:
Because God’s goal is to have us become more like Christ as we live on this earth, we will strive to live by biblical principles in our daily lives. We will depend on the Spirit of God to equip us to embrace and apply the guidelines of Scripture as we study the Word to understand how God expects us to live. (Ephesians 4:17-24)
VIBRANT FELLOWSHIP:
Because God made humans as relational beings, we will seek to build close, spiritually beneficial interpersonal relationships with each other during corporate worship and in smaller communities. (Acts 2:46-47)
COMPASSIONATE EVANGELISM:
Because God is passionately concerned about the souls of lost people, we will strive to develop creative, God-honoring ways of presenting as many persons as possible with an understandable explanation of the gospel of Christ, both in our local community and in global outreach. (I Corinthians 9:22-23).
GOD-ORDAINED DIVERSITY:
Because God displayed wonderful creativity in the diversity of His Creation and human diversity is but another example of God’s creativity, we respect individuals of various ethnic backgrounds as creatures in the image of God as we are. We will seek to highlight our unity in Christ while celebrating our differences. (Acts 17:26; Galatians 3:28)
STRONG FAMILIES:
Because strong families are the foundation of a strong society and a strong church, we will purpose to build our families upon the standards of the Word of God and to seek to model Christlikeness in our interaction with our families. (Ephesians 6:1-4)
Because the Word of God is our perfect guide and standard for life and eternity, we will preach and teach it intelligibly and practically in our corporate worship, and diligently study and apply it in our private lives. (II Timothy 3:16)
AUTHENTIC WORSHIP:
Because God desires people to worship Him in spirit and in truth, we will design our public worship services to provide opportunities to honestly encounter God on a personal level incorporating both mind and emotion. Because we also recognize that worship is a way of life and not just something that takes place in a designated service, we will strive to live lives that actively praise the Lord in our day-to-day affairs. (John 4:24)
FERVENT PRAYER:
Because prayer facilitates vital communication with God, we will engage in corporate and personal prayer, trusting God to respond as He has promised. (Philippians 4:6)
TRANSFORMED LIVING:
Because God’s goal is to have us become more like Christ as we live on this earth, we will strive to live by biblical principles in our daily lives. We will depend on the Spirit of God to equip us to embrace and apply the guidelines of Scripture as we study the Word to understand how God expects us to live. (Ephesians 4:17-24)
VIBRANT FELLOWSHIP:
Because God made humans as relational beings, we will seek to build close, spiritually beneficial interpersonal relationships with each other during corporate worship and in smaller communities. (Acts 2:46-47)
COMPASSIONATE EVANGELISM:
Because God is passionately concerned about the souls of lost people, we will strive to develop creative, God-honoring ways of presenting as many persons as possible with an understandable explanation of the gospel of Christ, both in our local community and in global outreach. (I Corinthians 9:22-23).
GOD-ORDAINED DIVERSITY:
Because God displayed wonderful creativity in the diversity of His Creation and human diversity is but another example of God’s creativity, we respect individuals of various ethnic backgrounds as creatures in the image of God as we are. We will seek to highlight our unity in Christ while celebrating our differences. (Acts 17:26; Galatians 3:28)
STRONG FAMILIES:
Because strong families are the foundation of a strong society and a strong church, we will purpose to build our families upon the standards of the Word of God and to seek to model Christlikeness in our interaction with our families. (Ephesians 6:1-4)