Vision and purpose

Vision download

We believe that God is an active God. He is a God involved in His world. He is a God who wants to revive His Church to the mission He has given her.

We believe that God has a future for us as a church. We believe that the only way that we can be used by Him, here in Petts Wood, is if we fix our sails in the direction he wants us to face, and allow him to take us forward by the wind of His Spirit. We believe that God grows and builds His church, but we have a responsibility to become more loving, more courageous, and more sacrificial as disciples of Jesus.

We long to see people come into a personal relationship with Jesus and find a place in God’s community here at SLBC. We want to see ourselves, currently within the church, constantly hungering after God and coming to remember His goodness in our lives and the calling he has given us to His mission. We long to see children and young people become radical disciples of Jesus Christ as they are taught, mentored and increasingly participate in the life of Christ’s church.

Why do we exist? What is our purpose in moving forward?

Our Purpose: “Our purpose, dependent on God’s Spirit, is to worship God, to make disciples, to love and serve, to reach out to the lost, and equip each other for ministry”

What values do we want to adopt in moving forward?

Our Values:

●	A Personal relationship with God: we believe that God seeks a relationship with everyone through Jesus Christ.

●	Bible-centred in all things: we want to be people who dig deeper into God’s Word in our preaching, teaching, and ministries and so be renewed and empowered by it.

●	The Ministry of the Holy Spirit: we believe in the power of God’s Spirit to change lives and we want to be open to him and give him the space to work in us.

●	Everyone has a part to play: we want to recognise the gifting of every individual and aspire to be a church where everyone is given the opportunity to grow in that gifting as they serve God in the church.

●	A heart for the world/lost: we seek to be a church that wants to see lost people come into a relationship with God, and we want God to use us in that process.

●	Everything covered in prayer: we want to be prayerful in all things seeking God’s direction and blessing as we serve the local community and take steps of faith.

●	A church that cares for one another: we are a family that seeks to love one another as Christ loves us.

What do we want to do between now and September 2012?

1. Work with our Toddler Group team to grow the ministry and be intentional about how to help the parents take ‘next steps’ in their relationship with God.

2. Set up ‘Dad and Me’, a monthly social club for fathers and children with the idea of building relationships with Dads in the community.

3. Make initial steps to develop our buildings, particularly rebuilding Livingstone Hall (welcoming front and café area) so that it is attractive and welcoming, and can be used for community activities.

4. Begin to use our buildings more so that we become better known in the community.

5. Being intentional with all the relationships we build personally and in the community so that there are clear steps for them to grow in their relationship with God – Two Alphas, newcomer meals twice a year, purposeful integration of people into home groups.

6. Build a sense of fun in our church through 6 social events and plan for Church weekend away in 2012.

7. Rethink and review home groups network so that every person is accounted for, and every member is connected.

8. Increase the spiritual hunger of the church.

9. Visit and meet with 3 other churches, and 3 church leaders as to how they do this, particularly how they set up their mentoring programmes.

10. Employ a full time youth and children’s worker to lead and develop our youth and children’s ministries.

11. Explore a possibility of starting a Church-based Nursery with the view to setting one up in 2013.

12. Increase the number of admin hours.

13. Recognise where people are functioning in roles that don’t suit their gifts, and find better-suited roles for them.

Our Vision: “SLBC will be a place where outsiders become insiders, forgetters become rememberers, and beloved children become belief-filled adults”

So what is ‘God’s Preferred Future for SLBC?

What can I do to support the church vision?

Pray: This future will only become a reality as we individually and corporately pray that God would use us, fill us, and bless us as we become increasingly dependent on Him. We ask you to regularly pray.

Resource: This future will only become a reality as we give generously from our own pockets towards the work of SLBC. We ask you to financially resource the goals of this vision.

Participate: This future will only become a reality as each person plays their part in contributing to the vision. We ask you to participate where you feel you can.