Vision & Values
At One Church we believe unity is so important to making the church the church. We recognize that many of us come from different social, ethnic, and religious backgrounds so we give space for each of us to learn together. So, we will hold tight to our core beliefs, those things that make us uniquely Christian, but we will have grace and liberty in all other areas. The things we hold close are below. Check them out.
UNITY
At one church we believe in the unity of the church. Jesus prayed to his Father, “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one.” Such a simple prayer and such a simple desire that Jesus has for us...and yet it can be so difficult to live out. Our Vision is to be ONE in Christ by embracing the irresistible grace of Jesus. This means we place a higher value on Jesus’ love for us and the truth of God’s word than anything else. We believe that what unites us is so much greater than what divides us.
John 17:21, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Ephesians 4:1-14
DIVERSITY
Part of the role of the believer and the church is to usher in the Kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven. Part of our responsibility and the way we do that is to have our community reflect what the Kingdom of God actually looks like. That means we will be intentional to reflect and value every nation, tribe, people and language.
Matthew 6:10, Revelations 7:9, James 2:1-9, Ephesians 2:11-22
GENEROSITY
We serve a generous God who gives freely to each and every one of us. Jesus gave his life for us and therefore commands us to give ourselves to others. He commands us to love one another and says that when we do that everyone around us will know that we are his disciples. We take that seriously and give of our time, our talents and our resources to show the world around us that God loves them and so do we.
Acts 2:42-47 James 1:27
COMMUNITY
The early church devoted themselves to fellowship, caring for each other and being together. To do this they understood that grace is the defining aspect of our faith. God extends his grace to each of us so we must lead with grace in our relationships with one another. The quality and depth of our relationships and our testimony of grace will be defined by how we love and serve one another. This love of community will be counter cultural to the world around us as the gospel is counter-cultural to the world around us.
simplicity
In many ways the “Church” has complicated faith and what it means to be a Christian or what it means to be a church. We think church should be simple, so we will invest far more in our community and the community around us than we will in our services and production. We will not do anything for self-promotion and make a commitment to humility, recognizing that our goal as a church is never about numbers, power and influence, but instead about true conversion and lives changed. Great leaders serve!
Acts 2:42-47
participation
God has empowered and gifted each of us in different ways and with different talents and abilities. The expectation is that we use what he has given for the glory of God and the growth of His Kingdom. We will be action minded and will be known by how we participate in God’s vision through teams, outreaches and small groups.
Acts 2:42-47, 1 Corinthians 12:20-26
Authenticity
Authenticity is a calling of all believers. We will let our yes be yes and our no be no. We will be honest, transparent and authentic in all we say and do. We will be prepared and ready to have the hard conversations, in love, with grace and truth and are willing to have those conversations without needing to have all the answers.
James 5:12, Romans 12:9, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
multiplication
Our goal is not to become a mega church but to grow deeper into community and relationships. Because of this, we believe the best way to grow the Kingdom is by multiplying the church. We will continue to send people from our community, with resources, encouragement and prayer, to plant new churches wherever God calls them to do it.
Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 3:7, 1 Corinthians 12:20-26