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Our Vision and Values
A little bit about us...
At Streatham Baptist Church, our vision is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.
We are a multi-ethnic, intergenerational church committed to worshipping Jesus together, empowered by the Spirit to serve one another and the communities represented throughout our congregation and beyond.
This can't be just marketing speak
As a church community, we're making 5 commitments.
These commitments illustrate that our vision statement above is not just wishful thinking and not something that we have already achieved. Instead, it is aspirational as well as a statement that we commit to working on, together, on an ongoing basis:
As a community enabled by God, we want to learn and grow together, discipling and being accountable to one another through 5 commitments:
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We commit to being a multi-ethnic and multicultural community
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We commit to being an intergenerational community
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We commit to a lifestyle of worship
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We commit to serving one another
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We commit to serving our communities
And we invite the Holy Spirit to work in us as we live authentically in each of these areas.
The 5 Commitments Expanded
We will work consciously and intentionally to live out these commitments as a community.
1. We commit to being a multi-ethnic and multicultural community
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We commit to building relationships that cross social, cultural, economic and ethnic boundaries; to eating and sharing and worshipping together, with those who are not the same as us. Our leadership will seek to model this in their own relationships and in the way our church and its activities are run.
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We commit to addressing issues of injustice, living out the values of God’s kingdom inside and outside the church, in such a way that removes barriers and builds bridges between various groups, in a way that glorifies God.
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We commit to ensuring our diversity is reflected in our leadership, membership, practices and culture.
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We commit to engaging with our community and with our variety of ministries both internal and external in a way that values everyone equally.
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
(Ephesians 2:19-22)
2. We commit to being an intergenerational community
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We commit to respecting people of all ages and ensuring the safety of all.
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We commit to including every generation, enabling access to church & communications, regardless of age or ability for those online and offline.
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We commit to empowering young and old people to participate in church activities and to be involved in the decision-making processes of the church.
“Do not rebuke an older man harshly but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.”
(1 Timothy 5:1-2)
3. We commit to a Lifestyle of Worship
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We commit our entire lives, to honour God with our words and in our actions. Every act of love is an act of worship.
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We commit to worshipping God in such a way as to demonstrate his character and nature to those around us.
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We commit to making worshipping together in person a priority and enabling those who cannot meet physically, to participate by other means.
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We commit to following Jesus ‘example, leading to spiritual growth through praying, studying and reading the Bible individually and together as disciples.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith”.
Hebrews 12:1-3
4. We commit to Serving One Another
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We commit to serving one another through practical, emotional, spiritual, financial and other means.
“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
(John 13:14-17)
"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
(John 13:35)
5. We commit to serving our Communities
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We commit to serving our communities by introducing them to Jesus through our words and actions.
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We commit to serving our communities unconditionally and without prejudice.
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We commit to using our skills, gifts and resources for the benefit our community.