All Saints Values
“The Kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed which someone took and sowed in the garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” (Luke 13:19)
The Roots: The source of our life
All Saints Church is a local community of the world-wide Anglican Communion, a part of the Body of Christ on earth. We exist because of the love of God shown to us in Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of love, justice, grace and peace he proclaimed. We are growing and developing in faith, sustained by the Holy Spirit.
The Trunk: The worshipping community
We recognise that worship and care for community go hand in hand. Through worship, study and reflection we intend to nurture our individual and corporate spiritual life to form a community so shaped around Christ that we cannot help but be open to all.
We worship together as companions from all ages and backgrounds. We meet to celebrate the Eucharist and also creatively use other forms of worship, drawing on our Anglican heritage with flexibility and openness. So rooted, we explore the treasures of art, science, music and other cultures, expressing our faith in gender-rich language. Through preaching and other ways of learning, we study the Bible, address current concerns, and in discussion and prayer we shape our attitudes to public and personal morality, encouraging one another to live out our faith in everyday life.
We recognise that the work and service of Christ belongs to everyone. Clergy and lay people share in different kinds of leadership, affirming the collegiality of ministry whatever our gender. As the Hebrew tradition teaches, children and young people, older people and refugees bring particular richness to our common life and draw the best out of us. We seek to support one another, helping each person to realise their gifts. We expect a healthy church to reflect the diversity of the neighbourhood it serves.
The Branches: Relating locally and globally
Our prominent High Street buildings and the ministry of All Saints’ companies are signs of our joy in expressing the love of God for everyone. We seek to serve the local community, directly through our own organisations and indirectly by supporting and praying for other caring groups. We are attentive to world-wide needs, politics and environmental issues, thinking globally and acting locally as we work towards sustainable living.
We aspire to embody the compassion of Jesus, cherishing human relationships. As a Church of England Parish Church, we take seriously our calling to offer opportunity for all to receive in Church God’s blessing on their most precious relationship. Rejoicing in human diversity, we uphold the gift of life long faithfulness in marriage; we celebrate God’s blessing of all life-giving, faithful relationships across the whole spectrum of sexuality; we celebrate God’s grace in new beginnings, including the marriage of people who have experienced divorce. We challenge abuse in any relationship and strive to create a church community whose deepest impulse is to safeguard the vulnerable. We will ensure the safety and protection of children and vulnerable adults throughout the life of All Saints.
We try to use and invest our time, money and abilities responsibly so as to care for the earth and her climate, to relieve suffering, to confront injustice and to help others, both locally and globally. We seek equitable relationships of mutual trust and learning. We hold our buildings and land in trust as assets for the whole neighbourhood.
As we confidently commend the Gospel in our daily life of work, home and leisure, we want to help build a more gracious society. In our search for truth we enjoy relationship with Christians of other denominations, people of other faiths and all neighbours of good will. We see God’s Spirit at work in all creation, especially in human creativity in arts and sciences, through which our humanity is deepened, enlarged, fed and challenged. We expect to learn about God from everyone we meet, especially through our differences.
The future: Conscious of ever-changing patterns of life around us, we ask God to keep us alert and to lead us into new expressions of worship, ministry and service.
https://allsaintschurchkh.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Values-Statement-2023.pdf