Before saying something about vision, it is worth saying something about values. At Uplyme Church we don’t have a statement of faith or a list of doctrines that you have to believe in before you are welcome. However, we do have some values that we hope every person will respect as they find their place within our community.
- Everyone is a child of God, irrespective of age, gender, tradition, sexuality, physical or mental ability. We aim to provide pastoral care that upholds the essential dignity of every individual.
- Everyone has a purpose – a role to play in the ongoing mission of God in the world. We organise our life in such a way that all our members are able to communicate the love of Jesus. This to be understood as not only being able to share about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus but also to live out that love in our community and relationships.
- God has a heart to reach everyone in the Uplyme community with his love, that they may know Him and be known by Him. We aim to live our lives such that we stay connected to God and to each other. We value baptism, worship, prayer, and breaking bread together and allow the Spirit of God to transform, renew and redeem us.
So what is our vision?
The goal of the church is very simple. It is God’s goal…
that everyone in our community may know the love of God.
To achieve the goal we have two very simple aims (borrowed from Rowan Williams):
1. To provide opportunities for people to encounter Jesus.
2. To enable people to be sustained in their encounter with Jesus.
To achieve our aims we have three simple objectives:
1. To provide opportunities for people to join in with the ongoing mission of God in the world.
We do this by clearly defining the 6 mission areas of the church and appointing a person to oversee each of these mission areas. We then encourage individuals, small groups and congregations to engage in these mission areas. Want a reminder of what they are? Families, Youth, School, Pastoral Care, Wider Church, and Zambia Connected Church.
2. To provide opportunities for people to express their spirituality within a community of people.
We are working towards providing multiple congregations. Some of these congregations will meet on a Sunday whereas others will meet on different days. They will be all shapes and sizes – contemplative and meditative, traditional, lively and charismatic, loud and contemporary, toddler, arty, children and young people – plus lots we’ve not thought of yet!
3. To develop resources to support our aims.
We are looking at how we can support the aims through providing spaces, training, staff and media. For example, we are constantly re-ordering the Church Building, growing leaders, starting new small groups and exploring creative resources. We also run a range of courses.
As part of the Axe Valley Mission Community, we have a combined Mission Action Plan (2024) which you can access here.
