Mission
Glorifying God by loving him, loving others, and making disciples among all peoples.
Scripture teaches that God’s mission is for knowledge of his glory to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). We believe that God has called his church for the purpose of accomplishing his mission in the world. At Shades Valley Community Church we seek to commit ourselves not to any self-created mission, but to God’s own mission. We love him by showing gospel love and speaking gospel truth to the ends of the earth.
Ministry
Worship / Serving / Community / Mission
The mission of SVCC plays out in four main areas of our corporate life together. We love God, love others, and make disciples as we worship together, serve together, do life together in community, and are on mission together to the ends of the earth. For more information simply click on one of the four ministry areas listed above.
Values
The values of Shades Valley Community Church act as boundaries within which we operate as we carry out our mission. They are Biblical principles which we have found to be particularly important guides for our church within the time, place, and culture God has called us. These values serve as atmospheric conditions which influence how we approach our mission and ministry.
-There is no difference between the believers in the church and the Pastors or leaders of the church. This belief is often expressed as the “Priesthood of all Believers” (1 Peter 2:9-10).
-We are dependent upon spiritual gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit for all ministry (Romans 12:6-8)
-A servant’s heart demonstrated by Jesus in John 13:1-17 is to undergird all we do.
-We need one another (Luke 10:1-4). God has no plans or purposes which are expressed or accomplished alone.
-Spiritual growth is a process that occurs in a healthy environment.
-We need revelation: A word from God can make up for a lifetime of lost and wrong dialogue.
-God speaks to us primarily through the Scriptures but also through prophecy, dreams, visions, impressions, words of wisdom and knowledge, and in many other ways. Each of these “secondary” means are always understood in light of Scripture.
-All healing comes as we learn to practice the presence of God through obedience to Him.
-We must understand our position and identity in Christ and develop skills in battling against the Devil whose work Jesus came to destroy (I John 3:8; Ephesians 6:10-18; James 4:7).
-Healthy church growth is normally at a rate in which people can be meaningfully incorporated into relationships and the life of the church. We do not desire to have a large “crowd” of people who are not meaningfully connected to others in the body.
-God has so designed the body of Christ that each of us is a meaningful part of it. Understanding who we are and our place in the body of Christ can be a messy process. Most of the mess is in relationships.
-Leadership is primarily a matter of servanthood.
-Diversity within the Body is a good thing! God desires unity over uniformity.
-The family is the basic unit of society and must be strengthened and equipped.
-No believer matures in isolation. We need one another to encourage us on a pathway of spiritual maturity.
-Christians who are easily offended and who withdraw and separate from others will never be able to grow and mature in their faith.
-We are dependent upon the Holy Spirit for life and ministry.
-Giving is an essential aspect of spiritual maturity. Therefore we need to be consistent and generous in giving of ourselves as well as our finances.
-Spiritual growth is not “paint by numbers” or “coloring within the lines.” Jesus came with a mission, which he accomplished, but he did not have a manual to refer to.
-We try to embrace the diversity within our faith family by intentionally blending four streams of Christianity into our life together – Orthodox, Evangelical, Charismatic and Liturgical.
- Orthodox – We are committed to “worshipping in truth,” connecting to the historical beliefs and teachings of the Apostle’s and the Nicene creeds as well as our Statement of Faith.
- Evangelical - We are committed to the Scriptures as being the inspired, inerrant, authoritative and sufficient Word of God. We believe everyone needs to experience a personal conversion to Christ resulting in spiritual transformation. We desire and responsibility for us to be an influence in transforming the culture for good.
- Charismatic – We are committed to being open to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives embracing both ministry gifts and sign gifts.
- Liturgy – We are committed to embracing the historical Christian patterns as well as the arts in worship and the weekly experience of the Lord’s Supper.