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Core values
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All involved
We expect everyone to be involved in building the life of the church and in developing
its ministry to the wider community. Just as a human body has many different limbs
and organs, each one of them absolutely vital for the proper functioning of the body,
so we believe that the Church, the Body of Christ, is composed of different people
all of whom have a vital role to play in its life.
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We are not a church in which people are divided into providers and consumers;
we are all involved in doing the work of God.
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Being disciples
Disciple seems to be Jesus’ favourite word to describe those who follow
him. It really means apprentice or learner. We are all learners here, the only
difference between us being the length of time that we have been learning from Jesus!
What’s more, we are totally committed to helping and encouraging one another learn
and progress in Christian growth and effectiveness.
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The learning journey is one which we undertake together. Our Sunday teaching, midweek
cell groups and the various courses we
offer throughout the year are all designed to help us fulfil God’s intention for us
to grow more and more into his likeness.
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Creating community
The Christian life is a shared life; the Bible doesn’t seem to understand the concept
of going it alone in our walk with God. What’s more, in a world where more and more
people feel more isolated and less connected we understand the importance of having
a community to which we can belong and where we feel valued.
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Our cell groups have a vital role to play in this. It is sometimes hard to feel
we belong to a large church of several hundred members. Getting to know a small group
of ten or twelve is much easier.
We are concerned, too, that the community of All Saints’ should be an open community,
one where newcomers and strangers feel welcome. This doesn’t happen by accident; we
need to work hard to create this kind of community.
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Doing evangelism
The Christian Good News is too important for us to keep to ourselves. We see ourselves
as stewards of it, and an essential part of this stewardship involves communicating
it to others. Much of our energy is devoted to making known the love of God in such
a way that others might encounter him for themselves. Evangelism is one of the key
emphases of our various cell groups and the heartbeat of the life of the church.
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Encountering God
We believe that God has created us for an intimate relationship with him. It is
as we spend time in his presence that we become the people we were created to be,
that we experience his healing and restoring touch upon our lives, that we hear him
speak to us in various ways and that we are equipped to serve him.
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Our Sunday worship is always constructed in such a way as to encourage us to meet
with God as are our times together in cell groups.
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