For my article for this month’s newsletter I would like to share with all of you some writing I’ve been doing over the summer for our new church website on our ministry purpose, vision and values. From time to time it’s good to remind ourselves of the vision of who God is calling us to be in Him, for each other and for the sake of our community. Our theme for this year at St. Philip comes from our purpose and vision statements – “Called To Be”. You will be hearing theme in sermons and communicated in other ways over the next year. I would ask each of you to spend some time reviewing and praying on all of this in the weeks and months to come. I would also ask you to ask yourself a few basic questions: 1) What does this all mean when it comes to God’s call on my life? 2) What does this all mean when it comes to God’s call to our ministry? And 3) What would our ministry look like if we were living out this purpose, vision and values? God’s richest blessings as we all discover who we have been called to be in Christ!

St. Philip Is . . .
St. Philip is a community of faith committed to empower people to discover and live out their unique calling in Christ. When you boil life down to its simplest common denominator, it’s all about relationships. As such we do not see St. Philip so much as a place, but instead we see ourselves as a community of people seeking to know Jesus and His love, to live life together in Him, and to serve others in our community and the world in His name. We don’t care about being the perfect church for perfect people; we are all imperfect human beings in need of God’s life and forgiveness. We welcome people from all walks of life, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey. Take a little time to discover more about the purpose and vision that God is calling our ministry to here at St. Philip.

Ministry Purpose: Called to be the presence of Jesus in our world today.
We see the church not as an institution, but as a relational reality defined by one thing and one thing only – who we are individually and collectively in Christ. It is Jesus who defines everything for us. Jesus is the One who defines our restored relationship with God once again because of His love and all He has done for us. Jesus is the One who defines who we are in relationship to each other as a community of faith; we are now the Body of Christ. And Jesus is the One who defines who we are for the sake of our community and the world.

It is from this identity of who we are in Christ that we understand our sense of purpose: We are a missional community called to be the presence of Jesus in our world today. We are not a church with a mission, but we are a church on a mission. That mission is to be the feet of Jesus that go, the hands of Jesus that reach and the voice of Jesus that speaks His Words of life and love to all we meet. It is through us, His Body, that Jesus continues His ministry today that He began some 2,000 years ago. As each of us live out our unique calling that we have in Christ, individually and collectively, we them become the means by which God blesses the world.

Ministry Vision: To empower people to discover and live out their unique calling in Christ.
It is with this understanding of purpose and mission, to be the presence of Jesus to each other and the world, that we seek as our vision here at St. Philip to empower each and every person to discover and live our their unique calling in Christ. This is a calling that begins with simply BEING. Each of us has been called by Jesus to BE loved, BE forgiven, BE redeemed and BE holy. It’s the call to BE a child of God through faith, that is, trust, in what Jesus has done for us by His death and resurrection. We have been called to Be His by grace!

It is out of this call to BE His that we begin to understand who we have been called to BE for the sake of others and the world. This identity of who we are in Christ now informs and empowers us to live out our identity in Him through our daily lives for the sake of other. We have all been created and redeemed for a purpose. We see each person, young or old, as a unique creation of God and within them God has placed a purpose to their lives. It is our vision to invest in each person so that they may discover how they have been uniquely gifted to serve God and others in all of life. None of us will do it the same, yet in the end God uses each one of us in powerful ways to make a difference. And as we partner together with Jesus and one another we can make an impact in the world one life at a time for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom. This is where life and faith intersect. Who have you been called to be?

Ministry Values
We all have values, those things that are important to us, that inform our decision-making and guide us in the way we live our lives. With this in mind the following are the values that inform and guide us as a ministry here at St. Philip as we seek to live out our calling together as the Body of Christ:

Identity (Head) – Connecting people to God through Jesus and His love
Our identity, individually and collectively as a community of faith, is based in Jesus and all that He has done for us. He defines our lives and gives us meaning! And as such we see ourselves and the world differently than we once did. This value is symbolized by a head because as we speak of this truth in love, “we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” (Eph 4:15)

Community (Heart) – Connecting people to one another as the Body of Christ
As the Body of Christ we have been gathered to live our lives together in community with God and with one another. We don’t have to go it alone, for in Christ we now are part of the family of God. And as such we encourage and uplift each other with God’s love. This value is symbolized by a heart because in Christ we live a new reality, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.” (John 13:34)

Empowerment (Feet) – Connecting people to their unique calling in life
Each of us has a calling in this life, not only who we are in Christ through His love, but also who we are to be in Him for the sake of others. It is as we discover our unique gifts, passion and strengths (GPS) that have been given to us that we begin to see how we are to live out this calling. This value is symbolized by feet as Jesus calls each one of us to “Come, follow me.” (Matt 4:19)

Synergy (Hands) – Connecting people to each other in service as the presence of Jesus
No one has all the gifts to do it all in life. We need others to partner with to make up for where we are individually lacking. That is what the Body of Christ is all about – we are better together! We seek to connect people with similar passions to each other and the resources they need to make a difference in our communities and the world. This value is symbolized by hands, as through us, Jesus continues to reach out with His love to a world in need. (Rom 12:5, 1 Cor 12:12)

Impact (Voice) – Connecting people to our world in relevant and transformative ways
Each of us sees the needs in our communities and world and desire to make an impact, yet we aren’t always sure where to begin. It begins by speaking up and sharing the need. As followers of Jesus we seek to step into God’s moving by serving a purpose greater than ourselves in order to change the world one person at a time for the sake of the Kingdom. This value is symbolized by a voice, for God has a message of love that He wants us to share with the world. As we share this Good News, Jesus speaks through us to give hope and bring life to all. (John 3:16-17, Rom 10:17)