Our Core Values

GRACE

None of us deserve all the great things that God has done and continues to do in our lives, but we seek to build a community of people who are assured of God’s grace and unconditional acceptance and love. We love to see this emulated through our relationships and actions towards each other. We are honest and real, and accept one another just as God has accepted us. None of us are perfect, so Life Church is a place where everyone is valued and welcomed to join the body of Christ. We trust that God’s work in us will help us all to become more like him. As he does this, we will encourage and help each other along the way!

Value - Grace

WORD AND SPIRIT

We believe, teach and preach the bible because it is our final authority. It is God’s word, and we love to hear him speak to us in our Sunday meetings, Life Groups and personal lives, through the scriptures. We also love God’s presence, and worship him enthusiastically with freedom, allowing his gifts to work through us all. We encourage all believers to be personally filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered for life, using their spiritual gifts to build the church to maturity. We aim to be a people, led by God’s Spirit, and eagerly seek opportunities to encounter him. Life built with the powerful combination of God’s word and God’s Spirit is a genuine adventure!

Value - Word and Spirit

PERSONAL HOLINESS

A church is only ever going to be as strong as the people who make it up. We encourage everyone to pursue a godly lifestyle, a commitment to personal growth, healthy spiritual disciplines in bible reading and prayer, and earnestness in dealing with temptation and sin. We want everyone to have one or two other friends in the church that they can be really honest with, and who will stand with them as they grow. We will only be perfect when Jesus returns, so we are not expecting one another to be flawless, but nor do we want people to be false. Let’s go for God’s best!

Value - Personal Holiness

SOUL WINNERS

Our mission (The Great Commission) and prophetic ‘lifeboat’ identity, means we are all called to reach those outside of Christ by public and personal evangelistic activity in our city. This begins with being good witnesses for Christ where we live, work and play. Our example to others is our first step in evangelism. We encourage every member to grow in confidence in sharing personal testimony and the gospel with others. Our preaching will make much of Jesus and the gospel, with regular opportunities for personal responses given. Life Groups will seek to be missional and special events throughout the year, including the Alpha Course will support and equip the church to introduce their friends to Jesus.

Value - Sould Winners

TEAM LEADERSHIP

The Apostle Paul always sought to establish churches with eldership teams. We are building a church led by a team of elders, along with their wives, deacons (servant leaders), and a wider leadership team. We believe that leaders are ordained by the Holy Spirit and confirmed by other apostolic leaders. We want to build a strong leadership team that brings strength, balance, accountability and more gifting – plus all the gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4 (Apostle, prophet, pastor/teacher, evangelist). As the church grows, so will the team. We love team!

Value - Team Leadership

FAMILY LIFE

We really value biblical family life. We affirm singleness, encourage great marriages and support good parenting. We want to be a church that values every stage of life. We love to thank God for our babies through ‘dedication’ services, and celebrate engagements and marriages. We invest time in helping men to be great husbands and women to be great wives. We honour mothers and fathers on their special days, and also seek to be sensitive to those for whom ‘family’ can be a cause of hurt or disappointment. Above all, we see the church as family. We are not formal and cold, but relaxed, warm and inviting. We love our family!

Value - Family Life

COMMUNITY

The church is a community without walls, so everyone is valued and welcomed, irrespective of age, race, culture or sex. We are also called to influence the wider community as salt and light. This means that we will be involved in our city, seeking to be a genuine blessing wherever we are involved. Part of this includes the wider body of Christ in Southampton. We enjoy great relationships with other Christians and churches, and play a full role in ‘Southampton Christian Network’ (a network of Christian churches and projects), and ‘Love Southampton’ (some of the things we do together, such as Home for Good, Street Pastors etc.)

Value - Community

BODY MINISTRY

We are all members of the body and Jesus is the head. We want to function well for Him, bringing our collection of gifts and characteristics to build and grow the church to his glory. Everyone is encouraged to minister to one another with the gifts we have received. You can see some of these gifts listed in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Recognising and releasing each other into our God given roles and functions brings harmony, avoids jealousy, increases our awareness of our need for each other.

Value - Body Ministry

LOVE AND SERVICE

Jesus is such an extraordinary model for us, and he loved us so deeply that he served us completely by laying down his life for us. The church is a loving family that serves one another and those we meet. Love is an action, so we do things to practically show love to anyone who is part of Life Church. If you have needs we will do our best as a family to meet them, and will always try to care for each other. We also all have different gifts which can be used to serve the church. Finding your place to serve in church life is a great way of growing as a Christian, and is always a blessing to others. We encourage all members of ‘the crew’ to find a regular place to serve – so get on board!

Value Love and Service

APOSTOLIC MISSION

We aim to create the mission model in the New Testament. We make disciples, care for the poor, train leaders and plant churches as part of Commission. We are caught up on that mission with over 50 other churches in this part of the UK as well as our churches in a growing number of nations. We want to play our part in seeing 100 churches established in the UK and many more overseas, as well as supporting those already planted. We express our commitment to this through our prayer, giving and serving. We also encourage everyone to come to our annual ‘Commission Festival‘. Our leaders are very involved in Commission, serving on teams, meeting other leaders and bringing input to our churches in Nepal and Portugal. Value - Apostolic Mission

EMPOWERING THE POOR

The bible convinces us of our social responsibility both inside and outside of the church walls. No one in Life Church should be in need, and those that we minister to outside of our family should be blessed and strengthened by our encounters. As well as running a food bank and free ‘Breakfast Club’ for anyone in need, we also offer support and advice with financial planning using the C.A.P course. We support other ministries such as ‘The Gate’, as well as bringing relief in far away Nepal, Kenya, and other nations. As a principle we give away 10% of our income each year. Let’s cultivate generosity, and show people the love of Jesus!

Value - Empowering the poor

BAPTISM IN WATER & SPIRIT

We see these two privileges as essential for enjoying a full Christian life. Water baptism is a joyous celebration and is the first step of obedience for any Christian as a visible demonstration of the internal change that has taken place when they received Jesus. We will encourage and prepare people for baptism regularly. We also believe in the baptism of the Spirit, as an essential part of every Christian’s foundation. We teach and give opportunities for this on Sundays, in Life Groups, on Alpha Courses and on Get Connected days. (And any other time if you want to receive it!)

Value - Baptism