Our core values
All of us come from different backgrounds.
Whether it be religion, home life, cities, or cultures, we all have different opinions on what is important in a church But, at Relevant Church we agree on seven core values to help us stay focused on how to operate and how to behave.
1) Strategic Service is exactly what it sounds like - serving strategically. We believe everyone has a talent, a gift, or special ability to offer the Lord in their personal service. We encourage people to ask themselves this question prior to diving into service: "In light of what God has called our church to do, where can I serve to help the church accomplish its mission?" If all of us serve strategically everyone will enjoy the journey of serving the Lord.
2) Relevant Environments are a way for us to use what is cultural to communicate what is timeless. Most people don't have a problem with believing in God, but rather the environments they're forced to endure at organizations who teach about God. Relevant Environments make church involvement more enjoyable and helps people become part of the family where their faith can grow in Christ.
3) Intentional Apprenticing helps us equip people before they are given responsibility within the environments we endeavor to create.
4) Authentic Community is anywhere people are genuinely connected, encouraged and challenged in their relationship with God and with others. It's the real-deal relationally, where over time facades come down and masks are removed. It's any environment where people can connect with others and experience the grace, forgiveness, and love of God.
5) Intimacy with God is about being fully known and fully accepted. Not just knowing about God based on what other people have told us, but rather fully accepting Him for who He is. Many people want God to fit into a box they create for Him, but that's not intimacy. We have a great desire to experience Jesus Christ within a context of relationship He desires to have with us. This happens when we read the bible, apply its teaching and talk with Jesus (prayer) everyday.
6) Relational Evangelism is doing ministry within the context of our relationships with other people, particularly pre-Christians. Webster describes evangelism as promoting what we believe in. Relational Evangelism is simply promoting what we believe in to the people we care about.
7) Biblical Authority is the most important value we adhere to. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus Himself submitted to the authority of Scripture and taught His disciples to do the same. If Jesus, the Son of God, emphasized the importance of the authority of scripture in His own life, why shouldn't we? We believe the Bible is our final authority for what we believe and how we behave. We don't want to think the bible is AN authority, but rather we want to function as though we really believe it is THE final authority in our lives.
