Who we are
Penrith Church of Christ
We as a community have been on a journey over the recent years. This journey has involved changing leadership, selling a property and embarking on a culture change that is completely Kingdom focused.
Below is just a glimpse of what has come out of being present to what God is doing in amongst us as a community and each individual that partners with this part of the Body of Christ.
Spiritual foundations
Biblical purpose is anchored in scripture.
Biblical purpose captures the essence of why the church exists. It is primarily a statement of “being” rather than doing. Biblical purpose is anchored in scripture and focuses on the relationship of God to the church. This relational foundation is the cornerstone on which our missional ministry is built.
It has not been seen necessary to change the current purpose of Penrith Church of Christ, but to embrace the whole scripture in reference.
The current statement is considered to capture the reason as to why the Church exists. This relational foundation is the corner stone on which our missional ministry to the world is built. It is simple, clear and concise:
Love God. Love Others. Love Self.
Vision
This is what we believe God is calling us to.
Vision is what you believe God wants you to accomplish through the ministry of your church.
It describes the results and posture of all our ministries and environments; the impact in the community around you. Vision paints a word picture of how things will be different in the future if God had his way through your church. Vision describes the destination rather than how we will get there.
The accepted vision of the Church is:
“Building creative environments to bring the hope of Jesus.”
Revealing - Embracing – Becoming
Unpacking the vision
Creative Environments is a broad concept about connecting people with Jesus, each other and the broader community in ways that are innovative, and most of all appealing to those who need the hope of Jesus.
These may be environments that are small, large, based around community, the Bible, socialising, learning or eating etc. We want our church to be relevant, accessible and innovative.
There are three key ideas that unpacks this vision:
Revealing an abundant life in our community
In the Penrith area there are many people who are struggling have an impoverished experience of life. Jesus said, “He has come to give life and life in abundance.” (John 10:10). The love of Jesus compels us to share the hope in practical ways – assisting in the domains of practical needs, relationships, parenting and in other ways. Ultimately our heart is to help our community to follow Jesus, where abundant life resides.
Embracing relationships between all generations
Our culture is fractured, isolated and tribal. The Kingdom of God is a family that embraces all, nurtures all and learns from all. Part of our vision is to intentionally create environments where all the generations can love, support and learn from each other. We think this is a picture of the Kingdom of God that is counter-cultural.
Becoming devoted followers of Jesus
Jesus said the greatest commandment was to “love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." (Luke 10:27). Our vision includes all of those who are followers of Jesus to become more like Jesus in love, maturity, generosity and service. These are the marks of Christian maturity that we are pursuing as a church.
Behavioural values
If biblical values capture the reason why our church exists, values describe our unique wiring.
Values are our deep convictions and assumptions that guide our behaviour and decisions, often unconsciously. Some values create a missional culture, others need to be confessed and replaced.
We discovered that like all organisations the Church demonstrates values that are both helpful and unhelpful.
As a Church we needed to affirm the values that have served our vision and purpose in the past. We also recognized a need to shift some of our present values because they are unhelpful to enable us to pursue God’s agenda.
The following five values have been identified as ones that will serve us moving into the next season of ministry.
These values are like
our DNA, imprinted throughout every part of our body and shape our culture,
decision-making and behaviours.
