The Bible is central to ministry.
Discovering and applying truths found in God's written word to heal broken lives and make disciples is a good definition of ministry. We believe that the Holy Spirit effects changes in our lives through both God's truths and God's people. There are no solutions that disagree with the Bible, and no teaching that surpasses it in any way.
Every believer is a minister.
We are all priests and are all to do the work of ministry. We are all God's children, his heirs and have been entrusted with the gospel and His work here on earth. There is not a "clergy" to minister and a "laity" to be ministered to, but staff ministers to equip God's people as congregational ministers to God's work.
There is freedom in Christ for ministries to be individuality driven. In other words, throughout scripture in both old and new testaments, God raised up individuals as leaders and allowed those individuals to use their talents, giftedness, passions, vision, and capacities to direct and drive their ministries. This is true today as God still uses people and relationships not programs and structures.
While there must be parameters for ministry, these parameters must be loose enough to allow God to direct the individual to use those gifts and abilities which were given to him or her by God. This freedom may be expressed in a variety of ways; the way they choose to dress, the way they choose to sing and the music which they choose to listen, the way they choose to participate in worship, etc.
As we free people up to be who they are in Christ, significant relationships begin to develop and out of those relationships ministry begins to take place. We will have faith in God to use individuals as He has made them. We will encourage conformity to Christ without the loss of the personality of the individual.
If changes need to occur in individuals, time and God's truths expressed in the context of loving relationships will be available for those changes to happen. We recognize that while we can show people that they have needs and that God can fulfill those needs, we cannot force people to submit to Him and His care. We will seek to provide a nurturing atmosphere where people are free to fail and where individual's weaknesses are protected.
Relationships are the key to every ministry.
There are quite a few "one another" passages in the New Testament. This indicates that we are to minister to each other in a variety of ways. It also means that we must begin to develop an atmosphere of love and safety where this ministry can take place. In order for someone to allow another's input in their life they must trust them. Trust only comes in deep, lasting, committed relationships.
We will protect one another's weaknesses. We will seek one another's best interests. We are committed to one another's successes. We will bear with one another's failures without condemnation. In short, we will love one another as Christ loved us.
All of our ministries will stem from and seek to reproduce these kind of relationships. Programs are not the focus and our structures must never be such that they hinder Godly relationships, the focus is on people as individuals with individual needs. Because we have a commonness as people, our needs will hold things in common and that will also be a place for community and closeness. While we celebrate and worship together in often large numbers, we reveal ourselves only in intimate relationships. While we cannot make these relationships happen, we can provide an atmosphere conducive to their formation and health.
The work of the Pastor(s) and the Elders is to equip individuals to do those ministries for which God has called them.
Just as in scripture God raised up individuals who led according to what God had called them to do, so today God raises up and prepares people to give direction and leadership to local churches for ministry to take place.
The pastor leads a team of Elders who help God's people as they grow in their love for God and a recognition of who they are in Christ. The Pastor is an individual whose gifts, capacities, and passion often require him to be someone who is freed up financially to use those unique abilities for equipping people to minister. This may include training people how to minister and also providing opportunities for them to minister.
We will be committed to the success of our leaders-we want to see them "win". This means that we will support them and rejoice with them in successes and stand by them and encourage them in failures. Our relationships with our leaders do not depend upon performance but upon the unity and bond we have in Christ.
