Our Vision

In 2023 we spent time seeking to discern God’s vision for our church, asking the question, “who are you calling us to be?” This led us to a headline vision statement:

Following Christ: At the core of Christianity is the call to follow Christ – the call to intentional discipleship. “Following Christ” is a reminder that true faith never stands still, but that we always seek to become more Christlike.

Serving his world: There is an acknowledgement here that the earth is the Lord’s and that we are called to play our part.  As you’ll see from the subheadings below, ‘serving’ covers a wide range of possibilities.

Everyone: This is not just a vision for the ordained ministers, or the ministry team, or the church council, but for every member of our church to play their part in the Kingdom of God. Indeed, we believe God’s vision is for everyone in Bradley Stoke to follow him.

Every day: Critically, this makes clear that we don’t stop being the church when we leave the building on a Sunday. Our faith is for all aspects of our lives and all times.

Underpinning this vision statement are our subheadings:

The key to all of this is intentional discipleship – choosing to follow Jesus Christ, submitting to him and living for him.

None of these subheadings specifically mention the building, Holy Trinity Primary School, or things like our services. That is deliberate. This vision remains about who we are (or who we are called to be), rather than about what specific things we do.

Of course, using the school as an example, it is represented in the section about building our relationships with the local community, but it could also be represented in the section about social action, if we worked together with the school on a project, and it could also be linked to faith sharing (through some things we already do, like Collective Worship, and through new things).

The whole vision is phrased in an aspirational way – for example, we pray that in a few years’ time, we will be a church full of people who share their faith confidently (we recognise that many of us weren’t confident faith sharers when the vision was discerned, but we’re working our way towards it).

Accompanying Bible passages

For “intentional discipleship”:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:5-8

For “building relationships”:
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35

For “social action”:
“He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

For “sharing our faith”:
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you.” 1 Peter 3:15