What we believe
Our mission
Leading people to maturity in Jesus Christ
Our vision
PUC is a community of people being so transformed by Jesus Christ that
we are compelled to share the loving, saving power of God.
What sets Pittwater Uniting Church apart?
Pittwater Uniting Church is built on a foundation of faithful witness
to the gospel established by the Uniting Churches of Mona Vale,
Narrabeen and Elanora Heights. Out of their passion for Christ, and
inspired creativity, a vision was born to create one new church on the
Northern beaches, one that would be home to a biblical community
situated in an inspiring multi-purpose facility dedicated to "leading
people to maturity in Jesus Christ".
While Pittwater Uniting Church is formed under the Uniting Church and
that denomination's "Basis of Union", we possess a distinct voice and
character within our denomination. Because many of our members were
formed in other denominations, PUC has been influenced and nourished by
many great traditions, particularly the Evangelical tradition, the
Pentecostal tradition and the Justice tradition. Each tradition is a
faithful expression of biblical truth and you will find their influence
throughout the life of PUC. For this reason we are a people committed
to the biblical cause of Christ, passionately trusting in the power and
gifting of God's Holy Spirit, believing that authentic love and justice
must characterise all that we do.
Finally we recognize that our mission takes place in a dynamic and
changing world. For that reason we seek to be a dynamic and changing
church. We continually evaluate our areas and methods of ministry and
seek to discover more effective ways to communicate and live out our
faith. In all of this we believe that the head of our church is Jesus
Christ who is actively transforming people and nations through His love
and saving power.
What are our values?
We believe that God has called our church to three simple, yet
profound, imperatives; to engage with our creator God and His creation,
to grow in our life in Christ and to go into the world in love and
service.
Engage
Worship driven
We are a church with a high priority on worshipping God
We are a community which exists because of God (1 John 4:19). God's
Son, Jesus Christ, is the head of our church (Ephesians 4:15) and
everything we do is to please and glorify Him. For this reason we place
a priority on meeting together to worship God (1 Pet 2:4-5). We believe
that worship is a response to all of life (Rom 12:1-2).
We are a church that values worship through music. We value excellence
in music as a sign of our desire to honour God with the best that we
have to offer (Ps. 33:3). Through music we aim to create an atmosphere
in which the Holy Spirit is invited to move with power in our lives.
We are a church that values excellence in preaching. We believe the
preached word changes lives, and we expect our preachers to be anointed
by God and diligent in their preparation of sermons which are engaging,
creative and biblically based.
Christ centred
We believe that Jesus is the unique Son of God and the Saviour of the
world
We believe that Jesus, through His death and resurrection, deals not
only with the sin problem in our lives, but also empowers us to live a
different quality of life NOW. We believe that, as followers of Christ,
we are called to live lives that honour Him in our words and actions.
As part of the Uniting Church in Australia, we welcome the tension
between charismatic (Spirit empowered) and evangelical (Word centred)
theologies. Both are grounded in Scripture and both are vulnerable to
temptations of excess. We live in this tension with grace and openness
to God's truth, recognizing that the Word of God is a living Word and
that, while it can "master" us, none of us will ever exhaust, or fully
understand, its teachings and implications. We seek, in humility, to
submit ourselves to its authority.
Grow
Discipleship based
We are a church committed to making disciples
We seek to provide opportunities to train and equip ourselves better as
disciples of Jesus Christ. To this end, we are a church that encourages
all members to grow in Bible knowledge through personal study and small
group involvement, and to develop their gifts of service through
programs designed for that purpose.
We are a church strongly committed to building an evangelising culture.
We urge one another to be ready to share the good news with all people,
as part of our call to witness and fulfil the Great Commission (1 Pet
2:9; Mt 28:19-20). We seek to provide training to enable members to do
this with increasing confidence.
Community focused
We are called to be a Kingdom community characterised by the love of
Christ for the world.
Following the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, a new community was
born that was committed to meeting one another's needs and breaking
bread together in deep fellowship (Acts 2: 47, 1 Cor. 13: 1-13).
We believe welcoming newcomers, integrating them into the life of our
church through friendship and hospitality is God's plan and call for
every member of our church. We believe that spiritual growth and caring
for one another happens best in small groups that meet regularly.
We are committed to the biblical principle that the ultimate work of
the church is done by the whole people of God, not by the professional
clergy or a few select lay people. Spiritual gifts exist to equip God's
people for ministry, for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph
4:12).
We affirm that the task of the church staff includes exercising
leadership by seeking God's direction for our church, maintaining a
"big picture" view, keeping these core values before the people,
casting the vision and encouraging the church to rise up and meet the
challenge of its calling, giving regular attention to strategic
planning for the future, investing in the development of new leaders
for the future ministry of the church, and exercising pastoral care
towards those in voluntary leadership positions.
While considerable decision-making power is given to individual
leaders, all decisions of significance are over-sighted by the Church
Council and, ultimately, the congregation. The Church Council exists to
oversee the whole mission of the church, including the pastoral care
and nurture of members.
Purpose Driven
We are a church that believes each and every believer has a
contribution to make to the cause of Christ.
Membership is not viewed as an end in itself, but as a pilgrimage that
leads towards unreserved discipleship and higher levels of Christian
maturity. We expect members to fulfil the Biblical call and to:
meet together regularly at church services to encourage one another
(Heb 10.25)
give diligent attention to developing a personal spiritual life by
Scripture reading, prayer and other spiritual disciplines
know their spiritual gifts and exercise them on behalf of the Body of
Christ.
make a difference in the world through Christ-like service
give generously to support the work of the church
We encourage all members to belong to a small group for encouragement
and accountability, and to seek guidance in finding areas of ministry
in which they can participate.
GO
Compassion filled
We are a church called to love our neighbour
Love and compassion towards the people of this world are key
characteristics of Jesus' life (John 13:1, Matthew 9:36) and Christians
are commanded to relate to people with that same love and compassion
(Mark 12:31). We believe God calls us to love regardless of race,
creed, class, colour or geography (Matthew 5:43-48, Luke
10:25-37). However, we also recognise that such powerful,
world-changing love only comes from God (1 John 4:7) and will only be a
consistent characteristic of our church as we open up our lives to the
love and compassion of Christ (1 John 4:12).
Holy Spirit Led
We are a church that is empowered by the Holy Spirit
We are a church that seeks the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We
believe that without the power of the Holy Spirit we can never be
effective in our service and mission in the world (Acts 1: 8). We
believe the Holy Spirit leads people into truth (John 16:5-15),
gifts people for ministry (1 Cor. 12) and develops in people the fruit
of God's character (Gal 5:22,23). We will seek to help people discern
and affirm their gifts for ministry.
Reaching out
We are a church that seeks to have a real influence in the wider church
and the wider world of human need
As transformed followers of Jesus, we will resist the temptation to
focus only on ourselves. We believe Christ has blessed us in order to
be a blessing to others. The struggles of congregations in our land and
overseas are our struggles as well. We need to be informed about local
and world events, and will seek to address them prayerfully and with
whatever resources are available to us. We recognize, and affirm, that
the gospel is shared, not just by our words but by our actions, and to
this end we encourage our people to minister to others sacrificially in
the name of Jesus, and to be active in the pursuit of justice and peace
for all.
Revised October 2009