Beliefs & Values
Everything we do begins with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Before we are a foundation, we are believers. Our convictions about Christ shape how we see the ministers we serve, and how we expect to be held accountable for serving them.
The Gospel is the good news that God, in His mercy, sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners. Christ lived the life we could not live, died the death we deserved, and rose bodily from the grave on the third day. Everyone who turns from sin and trusts in Him is forgiven, made new by the Holy Spirit and welcomed into the family of God.
We hold this message as the centre of our life and work. It explains why ministry matters at all, since the five-fold ministry exists to carry this Gospel and to build up those who receive it. And it explains the spirit of our care: we serve because we have first been served by Christ.
What we believe
The convictions we stand on.
A summary of the historic Christian faith as we hold it. The full wording is set out in our Statement of Faith.
One God
There is one living and true God, eternally existing as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Creator of all things and worthy of all worship.
The Holy Scriptures
The Bible, Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God, true in all it teaches and the final authority for faith and conduct.
Jesus Christ
The eternal Son became man, born of a virgin, lived without sin, died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, rose bodily from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father.
Salvation by grace
Salvation is the free gift of God, received by grace through faith in Christ alone. It cannot be earned, bought or inherited.
The Holy Spirit
The Spirit convicts the world of sin, gives new birth, lives within every believer, and equips the church with gifts for service and holy living.
The church and its ministers
Christ has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to build up His body until we all reach maturity in Him.
Faithful stewardship
All we have belongs to God. Those entrusted with His resources must handle them faithfully, knowing they will give an account.
The return of Christ
Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly to judge the living and the dead and to make all things new. This hope keeps us faithful in the work.
Our values
How our beliefs behave on an ordinary Tuesday.
Values only mean something when they cost us. These are the ones we have agreed to be measured by.
Honour
Ministers are treated as servants of God worthy of double honour, never as cases or charity. Help is given in a way that protects their dignity before their flock.
Discretion
We do not publish the names, photographs or circumstances of those we support. What a shepherd tells us in confidence stays in confidence.
Truthfulness
We expect honesty from applicants, and we owe it in return: clear rules, plain answers and decisions explained without spin.
Fairness
Every application is weighed against the same written criteria. Position, popularity and personal connection carry no weight.
Faithfulness
We are stewards of resources that belong to God and to future generations of ministers. Prudence is not caution for its own sake; it is love for those who come next.
Wholeness
A minister is more than a budget. We care for the spirit, the mind, the marriage and the children, not only the bank balance.
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
1 Timothy 5:17