What does our church really stand for ?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ should be the reason and the center of everything we do as a church together.  Most bible believing churches would agree to that.  But have you ever noticed that different churches can feel totally different ?  You walk into one church and the mood, the feeling, the personality, the vibe you get is totally different than that of another church.  The reason is they have different cultures.  Some are welcoming and vibrant, others feel ridged and cold.  They have different (often unspoken) priorities that you can literally feel when you walk into the room.  The roots of a church’s culture are its values – what it stands for.  Of all the values our church cherishes, if you could only pick six, which would be the most important to you ?  Our Elders have been discerning the top six values we want to emphasize as a church.  A church reveals its true values not by what it says, but by what it does.  So we decided to identify what we value by describing what we intend to do.  Here is our first draft[1]:

We earnestly seek God’s presence

as demonstrated by authentic worship in multiple formats led with creative excellence.

We offer a life giving atmosphere

as demonstrated by a God-honoring culture of welcome, acceptance,
genuineness, integrity, passion and playfulness that can produce a sense of hope

We take care of each other

as demonstrated by a community that seeks to know each other
and serves each other with practical acts of kindness and support.

We do Hands-on Mission

 as demonstrated by projects that make a real difference in our neighbors’ lives.

We grow disciples in a family of Hope

as demonstrated by a multigenerational, multicultural community that intentionally reaches out to the stranger, helps them grow in their faith and empowers the next generation of leaders.  We believe life-change happens best in community.  As a church family, we remember our past, live in the present, and invest in our future.

We strive to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength^[2]

as demonstrated by our pursuit of the arts, creativity,
innovation, the life of the mind, and forward thinking risk taking – all for the sake of the gospel.

 

We believe these values paint a portrait of beautiful and exciting church – a church called Leverington. If you have any thoughts or comments, our Pastor and Elders would love to hear from you!

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[1] Of course we value biblical doctrines and biblical morality!  We value repentance and personal conversion to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  But “values” as used here are about the environment of the church in which those beliefs are held.

[2] The last value circles back to support the previous five values.  It is included because almost all of the first five are about affective things that stir the emotions or practical things we do with our hands.  These are crucial but so is the life of the mind.  This value affirms our Reformed roots and our conviction that faith and reason go together and that the creation of God-honoring culture, art, and careful thinking is part of our calling as the church.

aeternam.

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