ABOUT US:
> Our Vision
> Our Mission
> What we believe
> What we practice
> About Pastor Mark
> Our Staff
> Our Campus
> FAQ
> Baptism
> Worship
> Get Connected
> Volunteer Opportunities
> Wedding Policy

Our Vision
It is our dream and goal that by the grace of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit the Church on the Eastern Shore will:

1. Be a loving, safe place where those who are hurting, discouraged, confused, lonely, needy, or frustrated can find acceptance, love, guidance, forgiveness, help, and hope.
2. Share the life-changing Good News of Jesus with tens of thousands of residents in Baldwin County.
3. Welcome thousands of members from all age groups and ethnic backgrounds into the fellowship of our church family – loving, laughing, learning, and living in harmony together.
4. Develop people to spiritual maturity through Bible studies, small groups, retreats, and mentoring relationships.
5. Equip every member for ministry by helping them to regularly exercise personal spiritual disciplines and to discover their gifts and abilities.
6. Send out hundreds of career missionaries and church planters around the world and thousands of members on short-term mission projects across the United States and around the globe.
7. Plant new churches and/or satellite campuses.
8. Bring God’s healing power and deliverance to those who are sick, oppressed chemically-dependent, abused, or emotionally scarred.
9. Serve other churches and their ministers by being a source of encouragement, resources, and training and by providing regional ministry events open to churches and ministers of various denominations.
10. Glorify the Lord through the godly lifestyles of its members and through our passionate pursuit of fresh encounters with God each time that we gather for worship.

Our Mission
To lead as many people as possible to become fully-devoted followers of Jesus.
To reach lost people with the gospel. To unite believers in Christian community. To help people grow in their faith. To help believers discover their gifts and ministries. To learn together how to honor God with their lives.
What We Believe
About God We believe in one God who eternally exists as three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). God alone is the Creator, Redeemer, and Ruler of the universe. Jesus is the Son of God. He became human to reveal God to us and to become the Savior of the world. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and lives within all true Christians. About the Scriptures We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction, and is the supreme standard for judging all human conduct. About Man We believe that man was created in the image of God as the crowning work of creation. Man was originally created without sin but freely chose to disobey God and thereby brought sin upon the entire human race. Only the grace of God can restore fellowship with God. About Salvation We believe that salvation is offered freely to all who will accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Salvation, or new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby sinners become forgiven children of God by trusting and following Jesus. About the Church We believe the Church to be the body of Christ which includes all who have trusted in Jesus throughout all ages. The church exists to glorify God by loving Him and making Him known to others. About Baptism We believe Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit symbolizing a believer’s faith in the risen Savior as well as the believer’s death to sin. We believe that baptism should follow a person’s commitment to trust and follow Jesus. About the Lord’s Supper We believe the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience which helps Christians to recall, celebrate and give thanks for Jesus’ death by receiving the bread and cup. We observe the Lord’s supper 7-8 times a year. About Last Things We believe that God, in His own time and way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. Jesus will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth. The dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be sent to Hell, a place of eternal punishment. The righteous through faith in Jesus, will be given resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their rewards, and will live forever in heaven with the Lord.

About Pastor Mark
Pastor Mark Price is the founding pastor of Church on the Eastern Shore (COTES). He and his wife Rhonda started the church in august of 2000 with a group of 50-60 people meeting in a small borrowed daycare facility. The church has grown rapidly and is now averaging roughly 1300 people in attendance each Sunday.
Mark and Rhonda were married in 1988 and have two daughters, Whitney (a student at The University of Alabama) and Lindsay (a student at Fairhope High School).
Mark earned a BA in Psychology from The University of Alabama and a Master of Divinity degree in Theology from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University.
Mark and Rhonda both love the beach, camping and all sporting events where the appropriate cheer is Roll Tide! Mark’s favorite TV shows are The Unit, Survivor and The Andy Griffith Show. His favorite Movies are “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Rio Bravo”.
If you want to know what passion drives Mark, look no further than COTES’ mission statement: “…to lead as many people as possible to become fully-devoted followers of Jesus.”

FAQ
1. When are your services? We have identical services at 9:00a and 10:45a with full programming for all children in both hours.
2. How do I get to COTES? We are located on AL Hwy 104 at the intersection of US Hwy 181, roughly 2 miles northeast of Fairhope.
3. What should I wear? We dress very casually for worship. Whatever you feel comfortable wearing will be appropriate at COTES. The church staff typically wears jeans on Sundays.
4. What about my kids? We provide first-rate ministry programming for children ages birth – 5th grade during both Sunday worship services. Any Connection Team member (look for the yellow shirts) will direct you to a check-in point for children. Small group programming for middle school students is during the 10:45a service only. High School Small groups meet on Sunday evenings. Ad our worship service an café’ time (The Wharf) for Middle and High School Students is Wednesday nights 6:00-8:00p.
5. What type of church is this? We are very free in our worship style and conservative in our theology. We have a Southern Baptist heritage but with a very multi-denominational congregation. We support missions through the Cooperative Program and more than a dozen other mission sending organizations.
6. How do I join the church? Simply put, come to your next monthly Accelerate Class (Sunday evenings 4:00-6:15p) and sign a membership covenant. More specifically, four things are required to become a member: be a baptized Christians who has attended Accelerate and signed a covenant.
7. How do I join a Small Group? Simply attend an Accelerate Class. Afterwards you will be invited to join other members of your Accelerate class to comeback for the next four weeks and experience a temporary Accelerate Small Group. At the end of the four weeks, you can remain with your new group or you can ask to be placed in a different group on a night that is more convenient for you.
Baptism
We believe that Jesus’ first command for all new Christians is to make their Christian faith known publicly through water baptism. We practice baptism through immersion (during our Sunday morning worship services) as a biblical symbol of our death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. Church membership at COTES does not require that we (COTES) baptize you but that you must have been baptized by immersion since becoming a Christian. If you would like to be baptized, you may schedule a time to do so by calling or emailing any staff member