Values, Vision, and Strategy

In February, Venture held a retreat with pastors, elders, ministry leaders, and spouses. A conversation began concerning our mission and priorities. What has God called us to do? Who has he called us to be? What does spiritual growth at Venture look like? We probably left the retreat with more questions than answers, but we were all excited about the direction we were heading.

Eventually, these conversations led to 5 Values that we embrace as a church family:

  • We value WORSHIP: developing a view of God that’s worthy of God.
  • We value the BIBLE: we should believe it, trust it, and obey it.
  • We value COMMUNITY: WE is better than ME.
  • We value SERVING: believing that everyone is gifted to serve.
  • We value MISSION: a desire to help people love Jesus.

And these Values formed a strategic vision for Venture Church:

1At the center of our strategy is the love of God. We long to grow in our love for God and worship of God, and our mission is to help people love Jesus. It reflects the conviction that God places 5-10 in each of lives that we can help love Jesus. So we pray for them, we initiate conversations, we invite them, and look for opportunities to share the gospel.

And our strategy is this: as people hear the Word of God (either at church or in a conversation with a friend), live in community – sharing life with Christ followers, and serve in ministry, we believe they will learn to love Jesus. And we continue to grow in Christ as we continue circling around the strategy — hearing the Word, sharing life in community, using our spiritual gifts through serving, and engaging the mission of reaching out to the 5-10 people God places in our lives. This is not a sequence (Step 1, Step 2….), it’s a continual cycle of transformation. And it all spins around the love God displayed for us on the cross of Christ and our desire to help people in our lives to experience that love. It’s helping people love Jesus. It’s learning to worship God with a view of him that is worthy of him. It involves equipping Christ followers to know the Word (so others can hear the Word), to grow in ministry skills (so others can be shepherded in community), and to empower leaders in ministry (so that others can serve in ministry).

This is our mission. This is our passion. It’s the Big Picture of what we believe God is calling us to be as his church.

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