Our Mission Statement
As members of St Peter’s and St Mary’s Churches, we plan to: meet together to worship and learn about God, help people connect with God in daily life, and help build community through practical care for others both locally and further afield.
Our Church Goals
As a United Benefice we share five goals:
- To love and worship God
- To care deeply for others
- To tell God’s story
- To be God’s family
- To reflect God’s character
Where do we get these goals from?
These goals are derived from two statements of Jesus, commonly known as ‘The Great Commandments’ and ‘The Great Commission’:
The Great Commandments (Matthew 23:37-39):
Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.’
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20):
Then Jesus came to them and said: ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
What does this mean in practice?
- To love and worship God
This means that we commit ourselves to maintaining and developing our personal relationship with God, through worship together, prayer and
Bible study. Individually, we make time to meet with God on a daily basis; together we deepen our understanding of worship by learning more
about the God who has called us into relationship with him. We care about our times of worship together and look for ways of enabling
Christians of differing personalities, temperaments and backgrounds to encounter God in our Sunday worship.
- To care deeply for others
We commit ourselves to giving practical care to others, locally and further afield, by getting involved in community projects and by giving
informed and generous support to Christian mission and aid organisations worldwide. We also commit ourselves to the sustainable care and use
of the environment, and to working for justice and fair trade between nations and communities.
- To tell God’s story
We commit ourselves to learning how to speak about our faith; to think about how to answer questions about the Christian faith; becoming
confident to discuss our faith with others in what is becoming an anti-Christian and anti-faith culture; tackling together the big questions of
how God works in this world and his relationship to society and individuals.
- To be God’s family
We commit ourselves to one another: to learning how to be a family together, accepting, supporting, encouraging, and loving one another,
looking out for one another and enjoying doing things together.
- To reflect God’s character
We commit ourselves, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to try to reflect more fully the character of God our Father in the way we live our
lives. We accept God’s call to reflect his concerns, priorities, passions and loves in our own, and in the character traits we aim to develop.
How these goals help us to become a healthy Church
Many churches are very good at putting one or more of these goals into practice. We too have our strengths and fulfil some of these goals more
easily and readily than others. The challenge is to maintain all five goals in balance; that way, although we may never be very large Churches,
we will be healthy because we are doing what the Lord has asked us to do.
Becky Totterdell, March 2000
