purpose, values, and principles
of community evangelical free church
purpose, values, and principles
of community evangelical free church
purpose:
To see a growing number of different people come alive in Christ.
Below is an explanation of the key phrases in our purpose statement:
“a
growing number” - We hope to
see the kingdom expand in our part of the world. Our hope is to see more
children, teens and adults respond to Jesus in the years ahead. We hope to see
many of them take steps of obedience for Jesus in our community and fellowship.
“different
people” - Our purpose is to see both non-Christians
and Christians “come alive” fully in Christ. The kinds of people we want to see
this happen to are all kinds of “different” people. We are all different and
God loves the uniqueness of each individual. We donʼt want to limit who comes
into the kingdom and donʼt want to put a stumbling block in anyoneʼs way.
“come alive in Christ” – When we say we want to see people “come alive in Christ,” we mean that we value personal faith demonstrated by accepting Christ as Savior and subsequent steps of growing in obedience to Christ as Lord. We set as our purpose to see people “come alive in Christ” knowing that it is a wide-open goal. We need to be careful about defining “success” in following Christ too narrowly because Christ is much more than success. He is Life. In Him is life. Our purpose is to see everybody and anybody, the different-er the better, find life in Christ, become obedient to Christ, which is to say “come alive in Christ.” This will look different for everybody: different callings, jobs, families, ministries, gifts and impacts. As we all pursue the holiness of following Christʼs love in our lives, we will all “come alive in Christ.”
vALUES AND pRINCIPLES
We
have highlighted 7 VALUES that
represent the uniqueness of our church’s calling and which we believe help us
to be true to the mission God has given us.
1. SPIRITUALITY
2. COMMUNITY
3. SINCERITY
4. INTEGRITY
5. EQUALITY
6. SANCTITY
7. FLEXIBILITY
Each of these values is defined and supported
by PRINCIPLES that throughout the history* of the church
have been considered significant in guiding our life together. The principles are listed (in no particular
order) underneath each of the 7 values.
*Some of these principles are from the founding of the church; others were added as the church grew and developed.
1. SPIRITUALITY
2. cOMMUNITY
3. sINCERITY
4. iNTEGRITY
5. equality
6. Sanctity
7. Flexibility