VISION AND VALUES
REACHING INTO PARTINGTON, CARRINGTON AND NEIGHBOURING COMMUNITIES WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS.
We are passionate about sharing the Gospel of Jesus with the community of Partington, standing together as a community of disciples engaging in God's mission. Stirred by God's love for us in this community, we give ourselves:
To see God transform the lives of young and old alike in Partington, through saving faith in Jesus Christ.
To build a vibrant and culturally relevant church that reaches this community while honouring God and his word.
To serve and love the community we are part of, actively engaging with it.
To see not only lives but also unbiblical systems of power and establishments transformed by the power of the Gospel.
To grow in love and understanding of God and his word as we follow Jesus in our daily life.
Believing that God has called us to see this community transformed by God’s love, we commit to giving the best of our time, energy, gifts and money to see this vision become a reality. We also want to be a church that equips, releases and sends disciples to reach new ground with the good news of Jesus.
We endeavour to be a community of grace, where all are welcomed and all have the opportunity to respond to God's love. We seek to share God's love practically, serve faithfully, live authentically and proclaim Jesus openly, impacting this community and beyond.
CHURCH VALUES
What are we about as a church, what are our values? These are the things we believe God has called us to, and this is the sort of
C H U R C H we are aspiring to be:
C – Christ Centred
Disciples committed to following Jesus, his word, his teaching, his example, putting Jesus first in our lives both personally and corporately. If something isn’t part of our walk with Jesus, or helping others in their walk with Jesus, or those who don’t know him to connect with Jesus, then we should have serious questions about why we’re doing it – our USP is Jesus, it’s all about him – serving him, and growing in Christ –likeness, holiness, walking with him and representing him well in all contexts
U – United
As a Baptist Church, the unity of God’s people is a key theme for us. We are all many parts of one body, all working together for the health and growth of the body and the building of the Kingdom. As a church believing in the priesthood of all believers, it’s not ‘my thing’ or ‘the leaders’ thing, but God’s thing, and while leaders are called to lead, we believe that the unity of God’s people is a key way of discerning God has spoken. We commit to not become disparate silos each trying to build our own empire – when it comes to church, we are called to unity, if God calls us, he calls us together for his mission.
C – Charismatic
Unashamedly a people of the Spirit of God, believing that the fruit and gifts of the Spirit are for today. Lived out, this looks like – personal and corporate holiness, as the HS does a work in our hearts and transforms us from glory to glory, toward the likeness of Christ, our gathered worship having the expectation that the living God will meet with us, as one brings a song, one brings a word, one brings a scripture…we want to be open to what God will say through His people whom he has given his gifts to. Outreach that has a charismatic cutting edge, open to prophecy, God’s leading and the still small voice… being a people who follow God’s leading wherever he leads.
H – Hospitable
As God’s people, we’re here to ‘welcome the sinner’, ‘love the unloveable’ reach the untouchable, and like the Acts 2 church, be a community of friends. That community ate together, and shared life together, welcoming others into an irresistible community. We want to be generous with our time, energy and hospitality to those who don’t yet know Jesus. Zacheus was transformed over a 1 on 1 meal, 5000 were transformed through a communal food miracle… let’s do hospitality well in our lives, as a church, in our small groups and on Sundays.
R – Relational
No one is called to follow Jesus alone, but as part of the body, the people of God. We are called to relationship with each other, sharpening, encouraging, correcting and inspiring, and we’re called to relationship with Jesus – growing as disciples (see 1!) – lived out in relationships in the world – workplaces, families and community. We are not to run away from the world but to distinctively follow Jesus in the world, making disciples ourselves… if we are not relating with anyone, we are not functioning as the body!
H – Holistic
Believing that every part of every person matters, and every part of the community and beyond, are invited into God’s plan for redemption.
Practically, this means – we are not just a people who ‘pray a prayer to get to heaven’, we believe in God giving you life in all its fullness, before death! Our message is one of transformation of mind, body, spirit, and eternity, transforming addiction, thought patters, behaviours etc.
Holistic for our community believing God wants to build his Kingdom in all spheres of community, including education, business, media, health, arts, etc.
It means we are not about ‘building our empire’ but are part of God building His Kingdom, blessing what He is doing elsewhere, and also supporting / open to sending, commissioning, releasing missionaries beyond Partington, wherever God may call his people. With an expectation that God wants to save those beyond Partington, we gear up to send and commission teams to pioneer new areas for God.
For us as a church and the community of Partington, it means that every part of every person matters to God.
