Church Values

I've been thinking through some values that I would hope for in a church plant or if I were leading a church in renewal. Here are some that I've come up with so far: We're willing to be innovative and unconventional, bordering on irreverent based on our desire to be relevant. We don't feel the need to conform to the current evangelical subculture. We'll be a church that parties like Zacchaeus, known for eating together and for feasts, festivals and celebrations. We'll be a church that aggressively supports the institution of marriage. We'll spend money to support counseling, enrichment resources and retreats, and work for the wellness of every marriage in our community. We'll be a church that thinks and ministers strategically, working to alleviate poverty and bring economic revival to our community. We'll be noted for what we give away, spend on others and not ourselves. We'll be a church that embraces prayer, care and share evangelism. We will fast for the salvation of the lost. We will be known for our sacrificial serving of the unchurched. We'll work cooperatively with other churches for the purpose of proclaiming Jesus Christ in the community in power ways. We believe in proclamation evangelism yet recognize that the overwhelming majority of people come to Christ through a friend, relative, associate or neighbor before age 21. We'll be a church that is "friends with all who fear Thee." (Psalm 119:63) We'll have an affection for, pray for and desire the wellness of every church and pastor in our community. We will serve other churches in love and unity. We'll be a church that loves Bible: we will study it, teach it, preach from it and make one available for every person in our community for free, in their language and at their level, and encouraging all other churches in the community to do the same. We'll be a church based on the "Go" model of ministry. We'll be a sending church: sending missionaries across the globe and releasing all our parishioners to pursue ministry outside the church walls. Every parishioner will strongly encouraged to participate in a cross cultural missions trip every three years. We'll consider ourselves a "mother church" from day 1, getting ready to plant our next church or campus. We'll be a church that disciples children, teaching them to pray, love God & His people, to pursue holiness, to enjoy the Scriptures and most importantly to disciple others. We believe that children as believers have spiritual gifts and they are essential to the church and to be deployed for the furthering of the Kingdom of God. We'll be a church of disciple makers / evangelists. Every believer needs to know they have a role in leading people to Jesus Christ and helping Christ to be deeply formed in them. We'll have high standards for membership and low standards for belonging and participating. This church will be uncomfortable for those not participating in servant evangelism, missions and disciple making. We'll create a exciting spiritual learning climate that fosters the growth of the love and knowledge of God in every facet of our life. We want to create a climate of passion for God, not just knowledge about him. We'll be an Ancient-Future church. We embrace ancient spiritual disciplines, celebrate the church year and feed ourselves on Christ in weekly Eucharist. We'll be a church that can answer the questions: How does discipleship and life transformation happen? What does a disciple look like? How do you gauge progress and momentum? On an old sermon tape that I have of Bill Hybels he says: "How is Christ deeply formed in a person's life? Do you just pour knowledge into a new Christian and does that make them mature? Do you just have them stay within certain guidelines, do you put down certain expectations, do you say "if you attend these meetings and give a certain amount of money" ? Is it external? Is it internal? Is it a combination of both? How does Christ take up residency and become fully formed in someone's life? We're asking those questions these days and the working outline of what we're working on is that there are certain practices, relationships and experiences ... that contribute to Christ being deeply formed in someone's life." -- Bill Hybels We'll be a church that answers those questions passionately. I saw these values at another church's web site and liked them also: • Every person has the right to a presentation of the Gospel at his or her level of understanding. • Every person needs a Biblical moral compass to guide and protect him or her throughout life. • Every believer has unique gifts to be discovered, developed, and used to strengthen the Church. • Every believer has a purpose in advancing the global mission of Christ and the Church. Well that's what I have been thinking about. What about you? What values and visions do you have for your church or for a church that doesn't exist yet?