When people do not have a divine vision they get discouraged. But whoever obeys the law is joyful. (Proverbs 29:18)
Before saying something about vision, it is worth saying something about values. At Uplyme Church we don’t have a statement of faith or a list of doctrines that you have to believe in before you are welcome. Instead we have some values that we hold close to our hearts.
- Everyone is a child of God, irrespective of age, gender, tradition, sexuality, physical or mental ability.
- Everyone has a purpose – a role to play in the ongoing mission of God in the world.
- God has a heart to reach everyone in the Uplyme community with his love, that they may know Him and be known by Him.
So what is our vision?
The goal of the church is very simple. It is God’s goal…
that everyone in our community may know Jesus.
To achieve the goal we have two very simple aims.
1. To provide opportunities for people to encounter Jesus.
2. To enable people to be sustained in their encounter with Jesus.
To achieve our aims we have three simple objectives.
1. To provide opportunities for people to join in with the ongoing mission of God in the world.
We do this by providing multiple small groups. These small groups work a bit like a team. They are places of learning and mutual support and encouragement. Each small group has a clear sense of purpose in how it seeks to bless the wider community. Small groups are open to new members.
2. To provide opportunities for people to express their spirituality within a community of people.
We are working to provide multiple expressions of worship – contemplative and meditative, traditional, lively and charismatic, loud and contemporary, children and young people.
3. To develop resources to support our aims.
We are looking at how we can support the aims through providing spaces, training, staff and media.