Our values

 

THEOLOGICALLY ROOTED

1 John 4:19
We love because God first loved us.

 

1 John 4
⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God…¹¹ That is how much God loved us, dear friends! So we also must love each other. ¹² No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us. If we love each other, God’s love has reached its goal. It is made perfect in us…¹⁶God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.

 

We believe that God is love, and by actively demonstrating this love, we can bring about positive change. At the heart of the gospel message is a vision of transformation and renewal for all things. John 3:16 (“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.) describes a spiritual renewal that happens when people choose to belief in God and follow him. However, a vision for gospel renewal is not only for the renewal of individuals, but also for communities and society itself. God’s vision is to see the world become a better place where everyone, even the marginalised, can live life in all its fullness. A place where children flourish, culture is transformed, and communities thrive.

Our best example of how to do this is to look to the life of Jesus. When Jesus lived on earth, he brought God’s love to those on the margins of society, stood up against injustice, and showed compassion for those he met. When asked, he said that the greatest commandment was to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself. He lived that out that through his words and actions, washing his disciple’s feet, eating dinner with the hated, and welcoming everyone into community.

A local Birmingham theologian, Lesslie Newbigin, once said that we, God’s people, are “a sign, an instrument, and a foretaste of God’s Kingdom.” Put simply, we are God’s hand and feet on earth. Just as we have received God’s love, we should share it through how we live. We know that when each of us makes the choice to live out God’s love in action in however big or small that may be, we will begin to see true gospel renewal: our children flourishing, our culture transformed, and our community thriving.

 

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

St. Teresa of Ávila

 

Stories that underpin our vision:

• The parable of the good Samaritan
• The parable of the wise builder
• The parable of the scattered seeds
• The story of Zacchaeus the tax collector
• Jesus’ death and resurrection
• The beatitudes – blessed are the…

 

 

This vision was launched in September 2023 after a year of consultation with staff, children, parents, and local stakeholders.