This section is aimed at giving you some information that will help you to know what kind of church we are:
Rooted-Open
We are looking to explore growing a church community under the twin motifs of Rootedness and Openness.
By this we mean we intend to be Rooted in the historic Christian faith with a particular emphasis upon the person of Jesus Christ and his teachings. From this flows our hope to be Open to engage with life in the context in which God has placed us and into the wider world.
Everyone is Valuable to God
Throughout history the church has often failed to express the inclusion that exists in the gospel message.
We understand that life can be messy and that many issues are more complicated than our media often portrays.
In light of this we aim to minister to and include all without considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, religion, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, or social standing.
We understand that Scripture offers a challenge to us all in this regard and we trust that having open hearts will draw more people to its challenge.
Who we are influenced by
NT Wright Lesslie Newbigin
Rob Bell Shane Claiborne
Graham Cray Walter Brueggemann
Brian McLaren David Harvey
Women in Ministry
We are an egalitarian church. This means we fully support people of all genders in trying to fulfill their destiny. We do not see any limitation toward women in ministry within the church.
We aim to build a church community that celebrates the differences between women and men whilst releasing them to be all that God has called them to be.
In this environment there are no ministries or tasks in which women are limited. We will continue to teach that such equality should exist in the home also.
The Bible has often been misused in this important area and we hope to offer a clear sense of what the whole of Scripture brings to our attention. Taken correctly we see that the gospel was revolutionary good news for both men and women.
For further reading we would recommend ‘Who Said Women Can’t Teach’ by Charles Trombley
Theology
We are involved in exploring an emergent or missional conversation. This means that we are looking to influences from a wide range of Christian theologians in the hope of continuing our Rooted-Open journey.
Being inspired by the Holy Spirit the Bible is a living book and we count it as An essential guide in both personal and Church life. We aim to read the bible in a consistent and informed way giving consideration to its context, its original meaning, its writing style, and the historic teaching of the church.
There is a temptation in some circles to approach the text as a flat book thereby seeing merely the words on the page. In light of this, whilst accepting the whole of the Bible as the word of God, we look to study it in a meaningful and nuanced way.
For further reading see:
The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin
The New Testament and the People of God by NT Wright
Jesus Wants to Save Christian by Rob Bell
The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne
A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren
Some terms we might use to describe our way of seeing church:
