Vision & Values

• To submit with all our hearts and minds to the Lordship of Jesus

• To allow His Holy Spirit free rein in directing our lives

• To grow in understanding and obedience to His written Word

• To hunger for more of Him in our individual lives, and in our life and worship together

• To be a community that demonstrates His love in action

• To reach out, in His power, to those He has made our neighbours in Reading and beyond with His love and truth

• To allow Him to do in Greyfriars the things that He wants, however uncomfortable that may be for us

     Spiritual Maturity
     Evangelism
     Social Responsibility
     The World-Wide Church
     Summary

Our goal is:

• A wholehearted submission to the Lordship of Jesus and the direction of the Holy Spirit, with an acceptance of the Bible as the inspired Word of God;
• To let Greyfriars be God's church;
• To create a sense of community, which is loving and interdependent;
• To offer our worship to God in spirit and truth;
• To provide an environment where all, including children and young people can meet Christ and grow in their faith.

Responsibilities of members of Greyfriars
As members of we should be committed to:

• Our personal relationship with God, reflected in quality time spent each day in prayer and Bible study;
• Developing our prayer life in small groups and corporately within the church;
• The ministry of the Christian church. Under the direction and enabling of the Holy Spirit we should tithe our time and money, and use our gifts in God's service;
• The ministry of small groups that provide pastoral support, encourage spiritual growth and accountability, enhance a sense of community and practise group Bible study and prayer. Specifically, our aim is that 80% of regular members should be active participants in small groups by 2008;
• The ministry of children and young people;
• Acting as active ambassadors for Jesus, our daily environments being our mission field and our goal being to transform them for Christ.

Additional responsibilities of those in leadership
The church leadership should use time with the congregation to:

• Develop mature disciples of Christ and ensure that spiritual gifts are effectively utilised;
• Encourage every member to see themselves as active disciples for Christ, wherever God has placed them.

Our goal is:

• To reach increasing numbers of non-believers through a shared vision for mission and a deeper concern for effective evangelism;
• To add 500 new disciples to the Christian church within five years, through the individual and collective witness of members;
• To build up New Hope Community Church in its evangelistic role within the community.

Responsibilities of members of Greyfriars
As members we should recognise:

• Our responsibility to share the Good News;
• Our evangelistic responsibility towards those who we are in regular contact with;
• To pray for those who do not yet know the Lord.

Additional responsibilities of those in leadership
The church leadership should use time with the congregation to:

• Encourage a real heart for the lost;
• Equip and prepare the congregation for evangelism;
• Model an evangelistic lifestyle.

Our goal is to:

• Promote Christian values in our society
• Demonstrate Christ's compassion for the poor, broken hearted and lost;
• Increase the number of members involved in practical service within the community; and
• Act responsibly towards our environment.

Responsibilities of members of Greyfriars
As members of Greyfriars we should recognise:

• Our responsibility to care for our world and the people who live in it through the outworking of our lives;
• Our particular responsibilities to those who are poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable.

Additional responsibilities of those in leadership
The church leadership should use time with the congregation to make them aware that their responsibility towards society could include:

• Being involved in activities as diverse as politics, education or campaigning;
• Offering practical support in the church, home or wider community.
• Providing financial support;
• Protecting and sustaining the environment.

Our goal is to:

• See ourselves not just as an evangelical Parish church in the diocese of Oxford, but as part of what God is doing throughout the world;
• Be an effective part of the world-wide mission of the church;
• Demonstrate our solidarity with the suffering and persecuted church;
• Spend as much on the world-wide church as we spend on Greyfriars salaries

Responsibilities of members of Greyfriars
Our responsibilities are to:

• Make ourselves aware of the needs of the world-wide church;
• Meet those needs through practical service, prayer and financial support; and
• Support our mission partners.

Additional responsibilities of those in leadership
The church leadership should:

• Increase awareness that Greyfriars is part of the missionary world-wide church;
• Challenge, encourage and commission those who are called to full time ministry in the wider church to pursue their vocation.

In summary, our aim is that as Greyfriars members we should:

• Engage personally and corporately in prayer and Bible study;
• Participate in small groups;
• Encourage and build-up one another in love and faith;
• Share the transforming love of Christ;
• Be involved in Christian service;
• Pray for the world.