City Community Church, Exeter - Values

Values... Things we Feel are Important

A Church that is true community... where we taste heaven on earth in our relationships... A Church that has every member in ministry... A place where kingdom dreams are born and live... A Church that has a lifestyle of prayer... where we increasingly affect the world through our praying... A Church that is given to the wider body of Christ and to the city... we recognise and live our interdependence with others for the blessing of the city where God has placed us... A Church that is both salt and light... Salt - effecting change, a potent agent preventing disintegration... And light - pointing the way to the path of salvation, the only hope for mankind.. A Church with strong praise and worship... where heaven touches earth and things happen as a result... A Church that has mission to nations and peoples at its heart... expressing the heart of God to reach all peoples and cultures in every place with the Gospel.

Each church has its own unique thumbprint

These are things we feel have become to us as we have journeyed with God. Holding on to our values help us understand that thumbprint -our unique identity as City Community Church. They prevent us from being blown off course. Several years ago, a prophetic word given us said that we were like a French pavement café. As Christians we are to be real and natural, welcoming strangers and making God accessible to others.

Jesus Christ is the head of City Community Church.

We recognise him through the Holy Spirit's presence: his gifts, character and ministry. Jesus is our director of operations -at work in us and through us (John 16:13-15). City Community Church is just part of the wider church in Exeter, Britain and the world. We recognise our incompleteness without our brothers and sisters in other groups of God's people; we endeavour to maintain good supportive relationships and seek to cooperate and build with others where we can (1Corinthians 12:20-21 & 25).

Jesus is our example

Jesus is our example in leadership and ministry. Our Servant Leader despised the worldly pecking order and showed us a wholly different way. He spoke of serving and of laying down our lives for others (Matthew 23:10-12, 20:25-28)

Each of us have gifts

God has gifted each of us uniquely. Ministry, including leadership, is on the basis of his grace and gifting, rather than gender, social status or age. All have value and place in God's house. We seek to support one another wherever he has placed us in his Kingdom. The boundaries of the Church include where we live and work. (Acts 2:17-18, Romans 12:6-8)

Children and young people

Young people have a vital part in the life of the Church. On the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted the words of Joel, saying that something new was happening which would include our sons and daughters. Our children can know God for themselves, and that is our desire for each of them. We want to invest in them the best that we can offer, and include them in our life together. The future of God's kingdom is with them (Acts 2:17, 16:31-34, Mark 10:13-16).

Lost people matter to God and to us too

Our mission is to know Jesus and to make him known. We want to reach lost people with the good news of God's love and help them become wholehearted followers of Christ. This means reaching others wherever our lives connect and also sending teams abroad for mission, and to strengthen and support other parts of God's Church. Mission has a high priority among us in terms of our giving (Matthew 28:18-20, Jude 1:3, 1Thessalonians 3:2).

Community and Small Groups

Church is a community not merely a collection of individuals. Through smaller groups community finds its expression. Good relationships are essential. We share our lives, caring for one another, sharing our hopes, joys and concerns -and the challenges we face as we follow Jesus. Loving others and being loved happens best in smaller groups (Acts 2:42-47, Philippians 2:4). In the world people are often only valued on the basis of what they do; but in this community we seek to value one another according to how God does as his children. In Christ, we know unconditional love, value and acceptance (Romans 8:39, 5:8, 15:7).

Right Relationships

The Church is built and held together by relationships. How we handle relationships therefore will determine whether or not we maintain or destroy community. Showing love to one another, kindness, mercy, encouragement and forgiveness, builds community. Criticism, resentment, unforgiveness and self-seeking undermine and eventually destroy community. If community is destroyed, our mission is lost (Galatians 5:13-23, John 13:34, Philippians 2:4).

Praise and worship

corporate and individual- is central to our experience of God. Worship is not an optional extra, but an appropriate response to our immortal, infinite Creator. Worship is the highest form of love for God deserves nothing less. As we worship we meet with God, and he reveals himself to us (John 4:23-24, Matthew 28:9).

Creative Communication

He communicates through tremendous variety and creativity. The Holy Spirit has placed gifted communicators within his body to build us, and to communicate through us to the world around. We strive to improve the quality and creativity of all our communication (Psalm 19:1-6, Romans 10:14-15, 2Tim 4:1-4).

The Authentic Word of God

The Bible is the authentic Word of God -the authority, standard and test of our experience. As we seek to communicate Biblical truth, our aim is to be faithful to scripture while being culturally relevant as Jesus himself was (Hebrews 4:12, John 10:35, 2 Timothy 3:16).

Discipleship and Prayer

While we each make our own choices, a growing commitment to Christ and his cause is normal for all of his followers. The Christian life is about growing in love, faith and usefulness to God (Philippians 2:12-13, Matthew 10:38, Hebrews 5:14, Ephesians 4:15). Jesus is our model for prayer. Prayer with his heavenly Father was an integral part of his life. It needs to be the same for us. Prayer should under-gird all that God is asking us to do and be woven into the very fabric of our lives as individuals, families and when we are together (Luke 6:12, Philippians 4:6, Acts 2:42, 4:24-31).