Mission, Values and Practices

Sweet Orchard Mission/Value/Practice Statements - June 2018

 

• Mission: To glorify the Lord, fellowship with Him and hear His voice

• Value: Honoring the Lord in worship trumps everything else when we meet.

• Practice: Corporate worship on Sunday, out of which flows ministry, warfare, prophecy and teaching.

 

• Mission: To support outreach and missions with prayer, ministry and finances. Provide opportunities to go on missions or to support those who do. Provide a place of spiritual refreshment and blessing for ministries that visit us.

• Value: Recognizing God’s servants in the world and assisting in the spread of the Gospel.

• Practice: Giving generously to ministries connected to us in some way. Ministering healing, encouragement and financial blessing to visiting pastors and missionaries.

 

• Mission:  To support dreams and empower members of the congregation. To be an incubator for birthing ministries.

• Value: Honoring and encouraging gifts that the Lord has placed in the Body.

• Practice: Financial support for training (like scholarships), funding for projects, prayer covering, Sunday School program.

 

• Mission:  To serve our community, secular and sacred, in order to influence and make connections that will further the Lord’s purposes in the Madison area.

• Value: Honoring one another, building unity, expanding the Kingdom

• Practice: Financial support where we see need in the community. Building relationships in preparation for revival. Meeting with other congregations and supporting them at conferences and other meetings with our presence, prayer and donations. Supporting local ministries and governing authorities in prayer.

 

• Mission: To flow freely in the gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to bring forth the full redemptive work of the Lord.

• Value: Welcoming the Holy Spirit and all the gifts and ministries that He brings.

• Practice: Encouraging testimonies of people doing the “stuff” of the Spirit. Encouraging everyone, including children to walk in the Spirit. Encouraging people to bring forth prophetic words, visions, words of knowledge and words of wisdom in the meetings and  outside the church.  Teaching about the Holy Spirit in Sunday School and giving children an opportunity to minister in the Spirit in the meetings. This is one of the reasons we do not have Sunday School during the meeting times, because we want children to experience the move of the Spirit in the worship meetings.

 

• Mission: Intercession

• Value: Cooperating in what the Lord wants to do. Setting captives free. Breaking down strongholds.

• Practice: Thursday night intercession meeting, Tuesday afternoon women’s meeting, being open to intercessory focus in worship at times during Sunday meetings, prayer walks around Capitol, schools, neighborhoods.

 

• Mission: To build a church community that is family that expresses a culture of honor.

• Value: Encouraging healthy growth among the members and a sense of belonging and being cherished by the members. Being an encouragement to and receiving encouragement from brothers and sisters.

• Practice: Building community traditions such as Family Christmas Night, Shoebox Sunday, New Years Day and Memorial Day at the Barn, celebrating graduations, etc. Consistent use of our prayer chain. Open communication. Teaching on building honoring relationships. Rotation of families sharing about and ministering communion on a regular basis. Serving one another with meals and other help when people are ill, busy, new parents, etc.

 

• Mission: To empower women to take their rightful place in the church

• Value: Recognizing the value of women in ministry. Encouraging women to fulfill their callings including leadership positions. The whole church and not just half the church should be fully available to minister.

• Practice: We have women on our board. Couples are encouraged to minister as fully equal partners. Women are encouraged to contribute freely in ministering in the meetings. We are open to the Lord calling women to other ministry positions.

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