Biblical Presuppositions
The Bible is our sole basis for faith and practice. This is non-negotiable.
Prayerful Obedience
Our desire is to be obedient to Christ in every action that we take as an Association, and we come to that obedience through prayer. We will bathe every decision we make in prayer, and will not consider an action, whether it is to schedule an event or start a church, without “effectual, fervent prayer.” (James 5:16)
Missionary Zeal
We look at the example of Paul, the great missionary of the early church, and seek to emulate his attitudes and actions. This means we will have a passion for evangelism and ministry as Paul exhibited in his letters. We will find where God is at work and join Him, as Paul did in going to Macedonia. We will seek to plant healthy churches and continue to strengthen existing churches, as Paul did on his missionary journeys. We will do this with excitement and energy and faith, expecting God to do great things.
Cooperative Servant-hood
We will have a servant heart in our interactions with each other. Philippians 2:3-4 will be our guideline: “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than him/herself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” We will actively seek ways to cooperate in order to accomplish the ministry goals of our association. Even though we are semi-independent, semi-autonomous churches, to some degree, we will choose to see ourselves as partners so that our collective gifts and strengths can be used in the service of Christ in ministry.
Innovative Excellence
Whatever we do, we will do with excellence. We will constantly be reminded of the sacrificial effort required by many just to come to an event, and we will make the extra effort to plan, present and implement to the best of our ability. We will be innovative in our thinking and in our methodology while never compromising the central message of Scripture. We will constantly look for ways to do things better and more efficiently, being good stewards of our resources.