VALUES

What's Important At WBC?

1.     Nurturing A Personal Relationship With God Through Jesus Christ.
Connecting people with God… We see it as critically important to offer you opportunities to both make your first connections with God, as well as to grow into maturity in your relationship with Him. Sunday messages and multiple small groups are designed to help you know God and grow in your relationship with Him . (Philippians 3:10; John 1:12; Col. 2:6-7)

2.     Mutually Encouraging Relationships. This is one reason we encourage all our people to participate regularly in small groups, classes, discipling relationships and other fellowship activities. Our goal is that these be healthy, nurturing friendships in which we stimulate one another's spiritual and personal growth. We also believe strongly that every member should strive to avoid negative reports and actively pursue the unity of the Body. (Rom. 12:9-21)

3.     Using Our Talents And Gifts To Serve God And Build Up The Body Of Christ.
All Christ’s followers have both gifts and talents. We are born with talents, and receive spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ. Both we and the church are the most healthy and happy when we are using them in ministry. Our desire is to equip you to discover, develop, and utilize your gifts to help build the Body of Christ, either through outreach or ministry to fellow believers. (Rom. 12:1-8)

4.     The Total Authority Of God and His Word. We view the Bible as God's Word and the final authority in what we believe and how we live. Thus all sermons, classes and small groups seek to understand and apply the Word of God. Because Jesus used the common language of His day, we too encourage the use of understandable translations of the Bible, with an emphasis on practical application to everyday life. (2 Tim. 3:14-17)

5.     Leadership Development & Multiplication. Jesus spent quality time developing his twelve disciples and others. If you have leadership gifts and calling, you will have the training and support to develop and use them. There are leadership training groups, one-to-one discipling, mentoring and coaching available. All group leaders are involved in monthly coaching with an experienced leader. (2 Tim. 2:2)

6.     Regional Ministry. Part of our vision is to see ourselves as part of the Regional Church of Greater Hartford, and partners in ministry with other evangelical churches. Both pastoral staff and lay leaders actively pursue the development of Christians and churches other than ours, and to evangelize people without Christ in this region, regardless of which church they attend. (1 Thes. 1:8-10)

7.     Commitment To The Church's Vision. We seek to orient all our activities around the church's vision (see statement) and to work together as a team under the leadership of our Elders to accomplish our common mission. We believe there is a powerful synergy that takes place when godly people unite together, and far more is accomplished for God than with every person pursuing his own desires independently. (Philippians 2:1-2)

8.     Wholehearted Worship. We desire to worship God with our whole heart and with enthusiasm, both together and individually. Worship is not just from the people on the platform – it’s God’s call for all of us! Our Sunday worship style is predominantly contemporary, with occasional traditional elements as they fit the theme and style of the worship. We encourage people to participate in singing, prayer, and other forms of worship  as the outflow of their love for the Lord, both privately and publicly. (Mt 15:8-9; John 4:24; Isa. 26:9)

9.     Excellence. We value quality because we serve the sovereign Lord God, and therefore we will strive for excellence in all that we do. (Acts 2:43-47; 1 Thes. 2:10-11)

10.  Growth. We desire growth because we value lost people. Therefore we will strive to invite, welcome and assimilate others into the Wintonbury family. (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47)

11.  Relaxed Atmosphere. We desire to be a family in which people can be real and share themselves. Therefore we will be intentionally authentic, natural, informal, humorous, accepting and will not take ourselves too seriously. (Acts 2:43-47; 1 Thes. 2:10-11)