purpose and values

I've been looking at a lot of purpose (mission/vision) and value (principles) statements from various churches. I'd be interested in seeing your favorite and having you explain why. Please comment with a link and some explanation.

A note regarding values (in addition to comments in my other post), I do not see one value above another but rather they follow the law of the minimum principle.

Here are the 8 characteristics (values) identified by Christian Schwarz:

1. Empowering Leadership; When members are empowered and trained to serve and lead others.
2. Gift-oriented Ministry; When members are serving and leading according to their God-given spiritual gifts.
3. Passionate Spirituality; When faith is being lived out with commitment and enthusiasm.
4. Functional Structures; When the organizational structure is serving the mission and goals of the church.
5. Inspiring Worship Service; When it is inspiring and fun—regardless of the style or format—for those who attend.
6. Holistic Small Groups Groups; where people can develop genuine community, receive practical help and enjoy intensive spiritual interaction (prayer, worship, serving, peer counseling, etc.).
7. Need-Oriented Evangelism; When the ways that the church expresses the gospel meets the needs and questions of the not-yet-convinced.
8. Loving Relationships; When members have developed friendships marked by authentic, practical love.

Cape Bible Chapel (from my old hometown) has a very sound and complete purpose statement. In addition, it flows well and is simple to communicate (and thereby remember). I did not find a statement of values (which I differentiate from beliefs - I'm sure they will straighten me out on this soon).

Most Vineyard Churches are working from this list of values:

1. THE PURSUIT OF GOD. We are hungry to know God's presence, hear His voice and follow hard after Him. (Psalm 63:1-3)
2. CHRISTLIKENESS. We desire that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus' love, mercy, grace, truth, purity, power, and integrity would shine through all that we are and do. (Ephesians 5:2)
3. SPIRIT-LED. We honor Jesus as our Head and the Holy Spirit as our Counselor. We seek to be responsive to the Holy Spirit in life and ministry. (Galatians 5:5; Romans 8:14)
4. PRAYER. We believe that prayer is essential, because it is our primary means of communion with God, and because it is God's primary means of accomplishing His purposes in the world. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Philippians 4:6)
5. DISCIPLESHIP. We aim first to grow as disciples of Christ ourselves and then to make disciples of others. (Matthew 28:18-20)
6. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. We aim to move in the signs of the present fulfillment of the kingdom, invoking the Spirit's powerful presence, ministering through the Spirit's gifts, and seeing God heal and work wonders. (Mark 1:14,15)
7. MERCY OF GOD. We believe that mercy is fundamental to all that God does in salvation. We, therefore, aim to extend mercy to one another and to all to whom we minister. (Colossians 3:12,13)
8. INTEGRITY. It is important for us to speak the truth, deal honestly, and live uprightly. (Ephesians 4:15)
9. SERVANT LEADERSHIP. We believe that Christ has put significant leadership authority in the hands of the pastor and associates. We aim to exercise that authority with humility, selflessness, grace, care for the sheep, and a sincere desire to build up the Body of Christ. (Mark 10:37,44-45)
10. THE INDIVIDUAL, single or married, and we want to enable and support mature relationships and family growth. (Romans 12:9,10)
11. UNITY. We are convinced that all who belong to Christ are one in His Body, the Church. We aim to maintain unity by honoring all who call on Jesus' name and by seeking reconciliation with all parts of the Church. (John 17:21-23)
12. COLLEGIATE RELATIONSHIPS. We are honored by every person whom God adds to the Vineyard. We aim to work together to build the Church through maintaining mutual respect, open communication, determined cooperation, and believing and speaking the best about each other. (I Corinthians 13:4-7)
13. REALITY. We aim to walk in the Spirit and see real supernatural works of God. We aim also to function on the natural plane based on God's leading in conjunction with excellent, relational thinking. (James 1:5)
14. SIMPLICITY. We wish to do nothing for "religious effect" but rather to operate in natural low-key, non-hype patterns. We desire to do the ministry of Christ with joy. (Philippians 4:4)
15. CULTURE CURRENT. We aim to develop an atmosphere of ease, and to speak, act, and dress in ways in which our culture can respond positively. For example, we reflect this value through worship music that is of a popular style. (I Corinthians 9:19-23)

Intown has a great Purpose and Values page - short, sweet, and actionable.

Intown Community Church exists to extend the renewing presence of the Kingdom of God throughout the communities of metropolitan Atlanta and beyond it to the world. We do this by celebrating Christ in vibrant and life-changing worship, by spiritually nurturing and equipping our community of believers and seekers with the resources of the Historic Christian faith, and by partnering with leaders, churches, and ministries who share in our kingdom vision.

Our Values/Guiding Principles

1. Kingdom- Renewal: Renewal comes through the power of the gospel of the kingdom, the power that can heal and mature anyone and any community. Kingdom-renewal is fueled by prayer and brought about through ministries of word and deed.
2. Discipleship and Spiritual Direction: We all need “life on life" relationships as we are on the spiritual journey of becoming mature and equipped followers of Christ.
3. Authentic Community: Authentic Christian community is the most effective way to demonstrate the truth and power of the gospel of the kingdom. It is by our love for one another that we are known as Jesus’ disciples (John 13:35).
4. Historic and Contemporary Christianity: By the work of the Holy Spirit, our community is dynamically being shaped by Scripture as read by the church throughout the ages and within the context of contemporary Evangelicalism.
5. Strategic Priority of the City: One of the most strategic place for Christians to embrace and embody the gospel is in the context of global cities. Spiritual, cultural, and social transformation occurs when kingdom renewal occurs in global cities.
   

And finally, VCF - Columbus has an excellent mission statement coupled with a good example of defining terms.

Our Mission; “To develop a community of passionate, mature, reproducing disciples; to plant passionate, mature, reproducing churches; and, to transform the world by love and good deeds for the glory of God.”

The Definition of Discipleship; “A disciple is a person who in the context of the church is passionately committed to a lifelong process of worshipping Jesus’ person, obeying Jesus’ words, doing Jesus’ deeds, and imitating Jesus’ life.”

1. Disciples are formed in community. A Christian cannot grow apart from relationship with other Christians. The single reason why so many “decisions” for Christ don’t result in discipleship is because of individualism. People wrongly believe that “me and Jesus” alone is sufficient to grow. We need the accountability, instruction, discipline, love and example that other Christians provide in order to grow.
2. Disciples must be passionate. Discipleship doesn’t happen without passionate and intentional commitment. You don’t drift into discipleship or osmose personal transformation without choosing to, without goals, without a clear plan to follow Jesus. Our intention to follow involves our whole heart and soul and mind and strength. It’s not a lukewarm or bloodless sterile commitment. Effort must be consistently exerted. Discipleship involves total devotion, extreme fervor, and passionate zeal. To be passionate is to be internally motivated. One gives, shares one’s faith, enters fellowship, worships, prays, studies, not because he or she is forced to, or is manipulated, but because he or she loves Jesus and wants to serve him.
3. We want to develop mature disciples. Discipleship is not the product of one class or ten classes or a certain set of experiences. We never arrive in this life at full obedience or complete imitation of Jesus. We commit ourselves to a lifelong journey.
4. Discipleship is not something that a church, a group, or another individual can do to a person. Every individual is responsible before God for their own growth. But discipleship is not individualistic. Growth only occurs in the context of loving relationships in the church.
5. We want to develop reproductive disciples. Real disciples impact the world. Consider the early church. The early church was said to have “turned the world upside down.” They did this by witnessing and by acts of love. Maturity and reproduction, depth and numerical growth are part of discipleship. Every disciple is called to add new links to the chain of faith—a chain that stretches back to Jesus and the apostles and reaches forward through us to the world.
6. Church Planting: The fruit of our labor must not just be individual disciples, but new churches. Planting churches that plant other churches is the best way to reach this world for Christ. Vineyard Columbus is committed to not only grow our own church, but also to plant many churches both in the USA and internationally.
7. We want to transform the world by love and good deeds. Christians are not simply called to verbally share our faith. We also are called to serve this world by doing good whenever we can, to whomever we can, as often as we can, wherever we can, for as long as we can, to the glory of God.

They also have a good links to vision, faith, and values.

So now I'm off to dream ... ah, the perfect Church, what would it look like? Hmmm ... wait a minute, no need to dream, she's described in the Word. Ok then, I'm off to read and meditate ... later.

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