Values

Convictions

We want to plant, build and establish churches that are:

Surrendered to Scripture

We receive Holy Scripture as our authority for faith and life. In doing so we submit to God’s word, echoing the words of Jesus in Gethsemane, “Not my will be done but yours.” This is a death that brings about resurrection life. It enables us to find the blueprint for kingdom life in Scripture and build accordingly.

Led by the Spirit

We choose to operate with a guide not a map, believing that God’s presence leads us to abundance. We long for the Spirit to shape our character, endow us with gifts, release calling, and enable faithfulness, courage and obedience as we participate in God’s mission on earth.

Following the way of Jesus

Our primary call is to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus and to do as he did. We therefore seek to adopt Jesus’ teachings, lifestyle, and mission as the model for life, shaping our individual character and communal identity.

Living as family

We have a radical commitment to kingdom family. Just as we were physically born to be dependent on others, so Christian life and ministry is a practice of deep relational dependency. We therefore remain accountable with one another; close enough to speak into every aspect of each other’s lives.

Extending the Kingdom

We proclaim Christ as Lord and the resurrection as a sure hope for eternal salvation. This means seeking to align all of life with God’s reign and purposes. Extending the kingdom involves both personal and cultural transformation, living as ambassadors of God’s kingdom in every sphere of life.

Culture

  • In an age dominated by what is instant, disposable and superficial, and where at times the very foundations of the Church are being shaken from within, we want to develop a deep theological underpinning that will enable us to withstand the storms that will come our way.

  • Our God exists in the divine family of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are therefore made in the image of a relational being and our task is to reflect his character to the world. We can only do this in the context of relationships. Relationships are the currency of the kingdom and therefore people are more important than programmes.

  • Our response to God’s faithfulness is to be a faith-filled people. Faith is the magic ingredient for kingdom growth and therefore we pursue obedience to the Spirit, even when it looks foolish.

  • Jesus said the most important command is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We therefore celebrate an all-in spirituality where we passionately give ourselves away to God in worship, each other in community, and the world in mission. This wholeheartedness includes the intentional pursuit of healing, freedom and wholeness. As a family we seek to support one another towards fullness of life, placing high value on ministry in the power of the Spirit to see people and churches come alive.

  • CS Lewis famously said that “joy is the serious business of heaven.” Joy is the strength that sustains on the journey of faith. Therefore, while we take God very seriously, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We embrace playfulness as a helpful counterbalance to some of the intensity of ministry. Lightheartedness can also helpfully facilitate ‘light-handedness’, where we healthily recognise that none of this is ours to shape or take credit for, but all belongs to God.

As a family we celebrate and champion the following values:

Distinctives

  • Charismatic theology is a key component of our life and practice. We believe that being continually filled with the Holy Spirit and operating in the gifts of the Spirit are critical to the mission of the church to usher in God’s kingdom in the world.

  • We have a firm belief in the role of women at all levels of leadership. We hold that women and men are equally gifted and qualified to lead and serve as co-labourers in the church. Therefore, we value and actively champion the presence of both men and women at every level of church leadership.

  • We use the language of ‘generous orthodoxy’ regarding conversations around human sexuality. This means that we hold to the historic orthodox position of the global Church (which believes sex is for the context of marriage between a man and a woman), whilst seeking to hold that space with generosity, creating safe spaces where there can be genuine learning and dialogue.

We affirm the Nicene Creed and the Evangelical Alliance statement of faith. In addition, we maintain three key theological distinctives: