Our Core Values
1. Rejoicing – Praise and Worship – as individuals, families, small groups, and as a congregation. Worship is the central and supreme activity of believers to God.
We declare that as a reconciled community in Christ we work in our worship services to represent God’s Kingdom in our local context. We work to offer God our most precious and valuable expressions of devotion from our varying cultures. Such worship requires the pursuit of excellence as we glorify God in a Christ-centered, believer-edifying and seeker-welcoming service.
(Unity Declaration Statement – Worship)
Associated Ministries: Friends of Jesus (for children aged 4-7 years), Power Point Team, Sound Team, Music Team, Nursery, Power Point Team, Scripture Readers, United Voices of Faith (Gospel Choir), Ushers, Worship Leadership Team, Worship Work Crew Team
2. Reconciling – Love for God is revealed in our love for one another - through biblical fellowship and repentance which maintains the unity of the spirit.
We declare that God our Father, in His great love, has redeemed us by sending His Son Jesus Christ, and united us as people from diverse cultures into one family through the Holy Spirit, committing to us the message of reconciliation.
(Unity Declaration Statement – Our fundamental identity)
Associated Ministries: Covenant Groups (small group Bible Study), forums/workshops/seminars, partnership in unity movements e.g.
locally - Partners for Transformation
nationally - Mosaic Network
- PCA African American Network
3. Reaching – Local outreach to Pen Lucy, Baltimore, world church planting missions.
We commit ourselves to work together as a multicultural body to proclaim the Good News that communicates Christ to people in their particular cultures with Biblical integrity through culturally sensitive means.
(Unity Declaration Statement – Evangelism)
Associated Ministries: Visuals and Communications Systems (including the Vision Wall and ministry brochures), Welcome and Follow-up team, Community Development Bridges Team, Special Outreach Events Team (e.g. annual summer carnival), Worship Hospitality, Youth Ministry, Summer Camp, Local Missions and Global Missions.
4. Restoring – Justice and Christian Community Development - through ministries of Mercy, crisis relief, development and reform in the context of godly stewardship of resources.
We declare that the church is called to be the redemptive presence of Christ by proclaiming Good News, which is demonstrated through concrete deeds of mercy and justice. This Good News affirms dignity, cultivates an environment of hope, and restores people to God through Christ and to service in God’s kingdom.
(Unity Declaration Statement – Justice and Community Development)
Associated Ministries: Pen Lucy Action Network, and Pen Lucy Partnership, Christian Community Development.
**8 Point Summary of Christian Community Development (CCD)
1. Relocation – living in the community in which one is ministering, including those who have always lived in the community, those who have returned to the community, and those who have moved into the community for the first time.
2. Reconciliation - having been reconciled with God, we now work on reconciliation with one another (across racial, socioeconomic, and gender); long-term, daily, hard work
3. Redistribution - bringing the needed resources together to impact the community in a manner where the community produces income that stays within and benefits the community.
4. Leadership development - developing the future leadership from among those indigenous to the community.
5. Church-based - the church is the foundation from which the other programs emanate.
6. Wholistic - community development is to be comprehensive (housing, education, health care including substance treatment, jobs and economic development, development of the arts, etc)
7. Felt needs - the needs of the community are to be identified (by the community, not by an outsider) and addressed by the community.
8. Empowerment - the goal of Christian community development, the empowerment of the individuals in the community and the community itself. The community taking ownership of their own community.
Who should be involved in Christian community development?
“Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God.” Martin Luther King Jr. (1968)
5. Renewing – Christian growth and discipleship towards maturity - through gifts awareness, service, leadership development, small groups, seminars and citizenship in the marketplace.
We declare that as we disciple one another towards Christian maturity, we must obey Christ’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves. We do this by keeping the unity of the Spirit, who indwells believers of diverse and historically separated cultures, in the bond of peace. (Unity Declaration Statement – Discipleship)
Associated Ministries: Adult Bible studies (Soul Food), Children’s Bible studies, Mom 2 Mom, Youth Bible studies, Young Adult Ministry.
6. Relying – Dependence upon God – through Prayer Task Force, Prayer Wrestlers, Concert of Prayer ministries as well as personal, family and small group prayer engagement.
“We resolve to be a church where every believer grows in prayer. We acknowledge that God has chosen prayer to be our first and essential ministry for our personal transformation and for the movement of God’s Kingdom in Pen Lucy, Baltimore and the world. We seek persistent, personal and corporate, dependent, bold, intimate, repentant, and biblically grounded praying throughout the Body that God would work among us for His glory.”
Associated Ministries: Prayer wrestlers, monthly Concerts of Prayer, Sunday morning Prayer in the Upper Room, annual Faith Advance Prayer and Fasting Focus Week, Partners for Transformation
7. Reproducing Leadership and Support Services - We commit ourselves to modeling the reconciliation of culturally diverse believers before the world in our church and ministry leadership. We promote reconciled leadership which understands and values church membership, the unity of the Church, spiritual accountability, the benefit of cultural diversity, shared servant leadership, cross cultural skills, strategic service, sound theology, godly character, spiritual renewal, and discipling emerging leaders. (Unity Declaration Statement: Leadership)
Associated Ministries: Teaching and Ruling Elders, Deacons, Women’s Leadership Team, Women’s Diaconal Ministry, Spiritual Formation Ministry.