Picturing Faith Together: Core Values draft
We’ve been in a season of discerning our core values, as part of our first step in our ongoing “Picturing Faith Together” strategic planning process.
Core values are those enduring, inviolable, Biblically-rooted beliefs that shape our practical life together. Based firmly on God’s Word in Christ, they are the very building blocks of a given ministry and explain why we do what we do. They form the foundation on which a church’s mission and vision build, and along with them form the church’s core ideology.
We began in earnest the work of discerning our core values at our gathering on June 9, and throughout the summer, some of Faith’s leaders shared value-based reflections prior to each of our worship services, many of which you can read on our blog.
Now, our staff and Council are coming together to refine and adopt a specific core values statement for Faith, based on the initial reflections our congregation has heard and shared in together—and we’d like your input.
We urge and invite you to prayerfully consider this first draft – reflect on the Scriptures in it – talk about it – and offer any feedback you’d like by posting a comment below.
As with any document developed in community, we cannot promise all ideas will make “the final cut,” but we do welcome any and all prayerful input before finalizing our values statement later this Fall.
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The Word of God in Christ
We hold fast to the revealed and enduring truth of God in Christ, grounding ourselves in His Word for the sake of our faith, witness, and eternal life together. (Ps. 1:1-2; 119; Is. 40:6-8; 55:8-11; Lk. 11:28; Jn. 1:1-14; 15:1-11; Rom. 10:17; Col. 3:16)
Sacramental Worship
We are called together by God to regularly confess and receive forgiveness of sins, be washed in His Word, strengthened with His Body and Blood, and respond with joyful praise and thanksgiving. (Ps. 107:1-22; Mt. 26:26-28; Heb. 10:19-25; Col. 3:16-17; Tit. 3:3-7; 1 Jn. 1:8-9)
Intergenerational Life Together
Called into fellowship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ, we are one Body of many generations united through Him, joyfully sharing life and partnering with each other for the sake of the Gospel. (Dt. 6:1-7; Ps. 145:1-4; Mt. 19:13-14; 1 Cor. 1:9-10; 10:16-17; 1 Jn. 1:1-7)
Disciple-Making
We are a community of maturing disciples called out of the world by God, and sent together in Christ to witness and make new disciples in the world throughout the course of our daily vocations. (Dt. 6:1-7; Is. 44:8; Mt. 28:18-20; Lk. 21:8-15; Jn. 17:10-21; Eph. 2:8-10; Col. 3:16-17; 1 Tim. 4:7-11)
Creativity
Made and gifted in the image of our creative God who remains at work in us, we praise and glorify the Lord by creatively expressing His truth. (Gen. 1:26-28; Ex. 35:30-33; 1 Chr. 22:15-19; Ps. 100; Eph. 3:20-21; Phil. 2:12-13)
Compassionate Service
Called by God into our various vocations, we love and serve our neighbors as ourselves. (Mt. 22:39; 25:35-40; Mk. 10:42-45; Lk. 10:27-37; Jn. 15:13; Rom. 12:1-21; Col. 3:12-14)
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Our Lutheran doctrine and heritage is essential to who we are as the body of Christ here at Faith. In the American religious landscape, Lutherans (by this I mean creedal, confessional, and sacramental church bodies such as the LC-MS) stick out like a sore thumb. We believe that the Word of God is fully God’s revealed truth to us as His creation, and believe, simply and inexplicably, that it means exactly what it says. That not only makes us odd to many of our evangelical/Protestant/Roman Catholic neighbors, it makes us a target for questions that call for articulating our confessional, creedal, sacramental faith to those same neighbors (as well as unbelievers). To this end, discipleship in the faith (of both children AND adults!) and Sacramental Worship (which encompasses Heritage of Lutheran Doctrine) should not be mutually exclusive. As we have Intergenerational Life Together, based solely on the Word of God in Christ (which is confessed through our worship practices…lex orandi, lex credendi [our belief informs our practice]), our training up in the faith should be such that we are taught not only WHAT we believe, but WHY. Pastor has done an excellent job of this in the worship services in which he explains not only what each section of the liturgy is, but WHY we continue these traditions passed on to us from centuries of Christians since the Resurrection. Understanding is a key component to a faithful witness as Lutheran Christians, and underscores each and every value we have listed here. It is gained by faithful preaching and teaching based sola scriptura, as confessed by the Reformers and handed down to us through the centuries.
Under the “Creativity” heading….expressing His truth (with the gifts he has so graciously given each one of us individually to use to serve Him). Just a suggestion as the whole body of Christ we all come together with our own special gifts to serve and honor Him and therefore the “whole” body is complete. After all, He planned it that way!!!
Thanks, Laurel, for sharing your thoughts. Truly, as you’ve said, God has entrusted to each of us different gifts to serve Him and those around us. Maybe there’s a “whole-life stewardship” theme emerging here… Good feedback! -Pastor Don
A great start at formulating Faith’s core values. Under the “Creativity” section, it would be helpful if examples would follow the words “creatively expressing”….. Also, under Intergenerational LIfe Together, I wondering if Christian education, i..e Sunday School, Bible classes, Pre-school, etc. is included in this section, and well as fellowship gatherings, i.e., coffee after church, LWML, river walk, River Cats games, youth activities,,home fellowship gatherings, etc. These might merit individual topics (Christian education and fellowship).
Thank you for your thoughts! Many of the things we do at Faith may fall under multiple categories. For instance, Sunday School is a reflection of the value we place on the Word, Disciple-Making, and Intergenerational life Together! -Nick