Vision & Values
Who We Are – “Kendal Road Baptist Church”
We are a varied group of people who have accepted God’s forgiveness for the ways we’ve messed up. We can only be forgiven through God’s grace to us, and now we are seeking to live in a way that others can come to know that grace for themselves. We meet in Longlevens, Gloucester, but live across the city and seek to serve God in Longlevens, in our local communities, and across the world. We seek to promote the unity of all Christians across a variety of different churches, and we are part of the Baptist family of churches. Each church is independent and interdependent and we seek to support one another and share resources. Baptist Churches practice believer’s baptism, baptising people when they are considered old enough to make their minds up about wanting to follow Jesus.
What We Are About – Our Mission
For our mission to be a reality in our lives, it must be expressed in a way that is easy to remember and apply. To this end, we have summarised our mission in the following three statements:
- Loving Jesus
As people who have experienced God’s love and grace, we want to grow in our relationship with Jesus through reading the Bible, prayer and worship.
- Living like Jesus
As apprentices of Jesus, we want our lives to be transformed by the Holy Spirit to become more like Him.
- Making Jesus known
We want to share the story of God’s unconditional love, grace and the power of the cross to our family, friends and the wider community.
Who We Are – Our Values
The values that we hold represent the type of people we aspire to be. As Christians we seek to live by the example of Christ. Whilst it is difficult to condense a lifestyle into a limited set of values, the following is an attempt to encapsulate something of that lifestyle under five simple headings.
Worshipping People
We acknowledge that we are called to worship God, who is worthy of all worship and who delights in worship. We are committed to expressing worship both by our lifestyle and obedience to God, and by coming together to worship.
Walking People
We believe that faith is a journey on which we learn and discover more about God through our daily walk with Him. On this journey, we discover what it means to be a follower of Jesus, by reading the Bible, through prayer, by submitting our lives to God, and living through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Witnessing People
We recognise that the ‘Great Commission’ is foundational to the church; as God sent His son, so Jesus has sent us. We will ‘go’, ‘be’ and ‘proclaim’ the ‘good news’ to all, near and far, enabling them to see Jesus and learn about Him.
Welcoming People
We affirm that, as we show Jesus’ love for other people, so others will come to see Him. We undertake to welcome all, without prejudice, and to provide a community that loves, cares for and values each other as God does us.
Working People
We believe that each of us is unique, and we all have a part to play within the ministry of the community of faith. We will encourage everyone to discover, develop and use their gifts through committed service within the church.