Core Values In A Local Church

The Church

"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

"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

What  Is A Core Value?

Resource: https://www.google.com/amp/s/anthonyhilder.com/developing-church-core-values-statement/amp/

In short, core values are principles that undergird, influence, and clarify what a church does, and how it does it. They provide boundaries and parameters around the mission, leadership and ministry philosophy, and priorities and strategy.



Reality Check: "Should" vs. "Are" Values

Churches can get caught between the "rock" of their ideals and aspirations and the "hard place" of custom, comfort zones, and expectations. This "between" spot makes churches vulnerable to confusion, paralysis, and conflict.


There is often a distinction between what a church claims to value and what, in fact, determines its actions. "Should" values are expressions of the church's conscience. "Are" values are expressions of the church's reality. Neither should be ignored. But, push-come-to-shove, "Are" values are a church's default. Unless they are "named" and deliberately challenged, they will continue to drive (and divide) a church regardless of its higher ideals.


"Are" values steer a church's decisions and behavior — no matter what a church claims about "Should." Unless "Are" values can be named, challenged, refuted, and replaced, they will continue to determine the actions of the church.


"Are" values usually say more about us and our comfort zones than about God and his essential business. "Are" values invariably support the status quo rather than encouraging the church to create new skins to contain the new wine of the kingdom.


Benefits of Clearly Stated Core Values

Core Values Can Serve Three Critical Purposes for a Church

Examples of Core Values From The Soma Family Of Churches

https://wearesoma.com/our-distinctives/

Being and Doing - The primary PLACE where all ministry is done

Gospel Centrality - The primary MESSAGE that continues to transform us 

Kingdom Collaboration - The primary MEANS of bringing Heaven down

Contextualization and Diversity - The primary UNDERSTANDING of living love incarnationally through humility and otherness 

Making Disciples Through Missional Communities - The primary DIRECTIONAL MISSION & PURPOSE of the church

Holy Spirit Empowered Ministry - The primary SOURCE OF POWER/STRENGTH by which we are led

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

www.accelerateteams.org/our-values.html

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.