Every church has a unique personality and style. It’s what differentiates one church from the next. Some of what distinguishes a church is the intentional choices a church makes in its worship or preaching style. Other factors are more intangible.
Over the years, our leadership has consistently identified core values that we want to preserve and uplift as a church. These “DNA level” characteristics are things that we don’t want to compromise. At our staff retreat this week, we identified the following five areas that are part of the Northstar DNA:
- Unity
- Service
- Biblical teaching
- Discipleship
- Vision
At another staff retreat way back in 2010, we identified ten:
1. Learning community
2. Leadership development
3. Faithfully Christ-centered
4. Missional
5. Strategic
6. Community servants
7. Generous
8. Risk takers
9. Visionary
10. Fun, joyful
Knowing who you are helps you remember the purpose behind your mission. In other words, who you are defines what you do, not the other way around. These core values are important to us as we seek to “be the church” and help people follow Jesus for the first time and also to lead them toward spiritual maturity.
Comments?
I’d love to hear from you – what are some things that you identify as being key components of Northstar that make us unique as a church?