Mission, vision & values
We are a broadly evangelical Christian church - which means we place the Word of God as a high authority for what we do and what we believe.
We are also a church committed to sharing the love of God in Christ Jesus to all whom we can. We do this through what we say and what we do. To put it another way, it is not enough just to tell others about Jesus - we want to show it too.
Our mission statement
The purpose of Riverside Church is to bring glory to God by proclaiming new life in Jesus Christ, being a welcoming Christian community, growing in maturity and reaching out in service to our neighbours near and far.
Our vision
To be a people transformed by God so that we can begin to transform our community.
In order to realise our vision, our mission priorities are:
- to seek continually to discern God's leading and to co-operate with what the Holy Spirit is doing whereever he is at work;
- to develop disciples intentionally through building relationships, learning together, and worshipping together;
- to serve our community and respond to needs because of the love of God for us and all people;
- to build on the quality and depth of our welcome and to be happy to encourage “belonging before believing”;
- to explore ways of connecting with people who are unlikely to visit church.
Worship
We recognize that worship is not confined to the Sunday morning service, though we hope that most people will want to join us for our times of corporate celebration. However, Sunday morning worship is not the be all and end all of being a Christian.
We are committed to regular and consistent preaching and teaching of God’s Word.
We aim to provide worship which is Spirit-led, inspiring, accessible and worthy of the God to whom it is offered, and recognise that God can reach people through many different aspects of worship including music, drama, interactive worship, prayer, silence and spiritual gifts
Our worship style is unashamedly contemporary, and our music draws on the best of traditional hymns and a wide variety of modern music from such sources as Hillsong, Spring Harvest and Bethel. Our music is led by a music group comprising keyboard, guitars, flute and violin.
Adults and children worship together. Children and Young People are never an inconvenience in our worship. We do not currently run a dedicated 'Junior Church' on a Sunday morning, but children may, with a parent or guardian, meet in the cafe area of the church where activities are available for them.
Fellowship
All people who regularly worship in the church or occasionally associate with us should have a sense of belonging to one another, regardless of age or ability.
All people within our fellowship are valued for who they are, not what they can contribute.
We encourage every member to recognise the gifts God has given them, and use them in His service
We encourage all members to become part of a home group where people will be committed to one another in prayer, support and time, and which will be open to include and serve outsiders
All members of the fellowship exercise mutual pastoral care.
We look to all members to value the importance and power of prayer, and to pray regularly for the church, the community and the world
Youth & Children's Work
We encourage all those involved in leading our youth and children’s work to be active members of the church fellowship, and committed disciples of Jesus Christ.
All those involved in leading our youth and children’s work do so from a motive of desiring to bring these children and young people towards Christ and eventually to a position where they can make an informed choice to follow Jesus.
All children and young people that come onto our premises or are otherwise involved in our activities are able to do so safely, and that they will all find acceptance and Christian love. Abuse of any form is not a part of their experience of this fellowship. The church is committed to fully implementing the Good Practice guidelines for working with children and young people, and operating all of our youth and children’s work activities according to those guidelines.
Evangelism/Mission
As disciples of Jesus Christ, members are encouraged and enabled to share their faith with friends and neighbours and seek opportunities to involve their friends and neighbours with the work and activities of the church.
We will show our concern for the poor and marginalised of our society and the wider world through our giving and our practical efforts