The priorities of a church are those things that consume its time, energy and money. They flow out of the values of the church.

 

Worship

The worship of God is our highest priority, for as we come into his presence he reveals himself and we see him with greater clarity.  As a by-product of this, we are set free to disclose ourselves to God, give our love back to God, and find acceptance and healing for ourselves.  Worship must happen with personal integrity; we come as we are to see him as he is.  Worship must also carry on past the gathered meeting and be consistently expressed in a life of service.

 

Fellowship

Our next priority flows out of worship: giving God’s love to each other.  As we find acceptance with God, we have a base of security from which to relate honestly to one another.  The result of experiencing acceptance from God and from one another allows healing and wholeness to emerge naturally as a by-product of safe relationships.  To make this possible, we place a high emphasis on small discipleship groups.  These provide a ‘safe place’ for people to express who they are, what they need and give themselves to one another in love.

 

Ministry

We believe that all Christians are called to minister in some manner under the anointing of the Spirit.  Also, that every believer has the capacity to exercise any spiritual gift at any time according to the will of the Father.  In particular, we are called to preach the gospel, bring healing to the whole person, care for the poor and needy, set free those who have been bound by Satan, nurture believers through teaching and exhortation, and train and release others in the ministry of salvation, healing, deliverance and other aspects of ministry.

Prayer

Recognizing that nothing can be accomplished without the power of God being employed in carrying out the will of God, we recognize the necessity of both private and corporate prayer, and so encourage both.  Prayer takes different forms, but it must always arise from the heart as a result of the Holy Spirit moving.

 

The Poor

We believe that the church has a responsibility towards the poor.  Our initial response must be to meet immediate financial need, but it is also part of our responsibility to encourage and, where possible, enable people to provide for themselves and their families.  We believe that God wants his children to succeed and be prosperous in all areas of life, not only for their own needs, but also so that they can in turn be generous in meeting the needs of others.

 

Church planting

We expect that as people mature in Christ, God will call some to plant new churches.  It is in the sending out of trained leaders that the vision of what God has told us to do will remain strong and pure.  Each generation of leaders will be forced to encounter God personally, and discover His purpose and call on their lives.  These new churches will be linked in a network with the original church, and so will be autonomous but not isolated. In this way the kingdom of God will be expanded and multiplied.

 

Renewal

We desire to build and maintain good relationships with other churches.  There is not a single way to ‘do church’; in fact we need different kinds of churches to meet different kinds of people.  We want to serve the Body of Christ by making ourselves available to encourage renewal in churches in our area and beyond.

 

Marriage and Family

Our aim is to be able to help families grow strong and healthy; enabling them to be nurturing, spiritual family units that are able to love and serve each other.

 

Children

Our children are a gift from God and a high priority of people in our generation.  They are a blessing in the present and our hope for the future.  As such, they deserve the same quality of nurture and care that we give to adults.