Core Values In A Local Church
What Is A Core Value?
Core values are fundamental principles that guide and shape the actions, mission, and philosophy of a church. They serve as the foundation for decision-making and strategic planning, influencing the church's identity, theology, and activities.
Key Functions Of Core Values:
Clarify Identity: Core values define who the church is, what it stands for, and what is truly important. They answer critical questions like "Who are we?" and "What are our non-negotiables?"
Guide Behavior: They steer the church's actions and decisions, providing a consistent framework for evaluating new opportunities and challenges.
Promote Unity: Clearly stated core values help unify members by keeping the church focused on its mission and reminding them of their shared purpose.
Enhance Decision-Making: By aligning decisions with core values, churches can make choices that are true to their principles, avoiding actions that contradict their fundamental beliefs.
Reality Check: "Should" vs. "Are" Values
Churches often face a gap between their aspirational ("should") values and their actual ("are") values. While "should" values represent the church's ideals, "are" values reflect its real practices. Recognizing and addressing this gap is crucial for authenticity and growth.
Benefits Of Clearly Stated Core Values:
Keeps the church focused and motivated on its mission.
Encourages unity and clarity among members.
Inspires passion and excitement within the congregation.
Assists in making consistent and value-aligned decisions.
Prevents discouragement by providing a clear sense of purpose.
Helps in achieving church-wide and individual goals.
Core Values Serve Three Critical Purposes:
Planning: They provide a reflective mechanism for setting church-wide goals and objectives.
Evaluation: They help judge whether new ministry opportunities align with the church's values.
Guidance: They assist church members in living out their lives as followers of Christ.
For more details, you can visit the full article on Developing Church Core Values.
QUOTES
"Our core values determine our decisions." - Chris Hanslik
"A church that effectively develops, articulates, and appropriates its core values can remain clear on what it believes about itself, and focused on what God calls it to be and do." - Tony Hunt
BIBLE TEXTS
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." Hosea 4:6a ESV
Where there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray. But when you follow the revelation of the Word, heaven's bliss fills your soul." - Proverbs 29:18 TPT
“...Where your treasure is that’s where your heart will be also.” - Matthew 6:19-21 NIV
“Write down the vision and inscribe it clearly on tablets, that one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hurries toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it delays, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay long." - Habakkuk 2:2-3 NASB2020
Examples of Core Values From The Soma Family Of Churches
Core Values From The Vineyard USA
Experiencing God - We believe God is to be known and experienced in a tangible interface with Him. God is to be worshipped where we express love to Him and receive love from Him. It is something that is not just cerebral but it is real and tangible; it's physical, subjective and objective, all at the same time.
Compassionate Ministry - When there's need, we ask, "How can we help?" This endless extension of compassion to the poor and the needy is to happen in the nitty gritty of the everyday life.
Culturally Relevant Mission - We join God in His mission to people today by being attuned and informed about what is going on in our culture, so that we can take the Gospel message and apply it to that reality. We help contextualize the Gospel in the best way possible so that people today can understand and embrace this Good News.
Reconciling Community - We live in a broken world and yet we bring the love of God to people and bring people together, in a ministry of reconciliation.
The Theology And The Practice Of The Kingdom Of God - This theology and practice is the reality that Jesus Christ, in His coming, inaugurated the Kingdom of God, and in His Second Coming will consummate the Kingdom of God. We live in the tension of the already and the not yet. But we know that God has intervened and kept His promise. What He said He will do He did through His Son Jesus Christ, and will culminate at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Some Compelling "Accelerate Team" Core Values
Dependence On God
We believe that it is Jesus who builds his Church and that we are called into partnership by joining Him wherever He is already at work. Jesus authenticated His message as He healed the sick, raised the dead and set the captives free. We believe the Holy Spirit will do the same today through us as we obey His Word and rely on His empowering presence.
Adaptive Peer Learning
We cultivate a culture of creativity and continual improvement by embracing the disciplines of accountability, experimentation and evaluation. We encourage adaptation, innovation and discovery based learning at every level. Our expectation is that new ideas and contextually relevant practices will consistently emerge from the entire movement.
Ordinary People
We believe that the greatest positive change to society will come as ordinary men and women of every generation minister together in teams. By empowering others through coaching and mentoring, we strategically participate in the fulfillment of the Great Commission without creating an unhealthy dependence on us.
Servant Team Leadership
We believe that a team approach to ministry best expresses the biblical pattern of servant leadership. We can accomplish more by humbly working together than any individual ever could. In this way, God receives the glory rather than the individual. Our leadership influence is intentionally exercised “behind the scenes” and is often invisible. We serve from a posture of humility.