{"id":17,"date":"2016-10-26T20:54:43","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T20:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2016-10-26T18:18:38","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T23:18:38","slug":"identity-and-mission-statement","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/?page_id=17","title":{"rendered":"Identity and Mission Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Preamble<\/strong><br \/>\nSt. Stephen\u2019s Presbyterian Church is embarking on the next stage of its journey to call a minister and revitalize its ministry and mission. This document defines who we are and where we intend to go.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Identity<\/strong><br \/>\nWe are a community of friends with diverse perspectives seeking an all encompassing experience of God as we support each other on our Christian journey. We continue to be called to serve our world.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Approach<\/strong><br \/>\nAs Christians with a living dynamic faith we approach our journey in an openly accepting and actively supportive manner.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Values<\/strong><br \/>\n1. Worship involves the active participation of the congregation acknowledging God as creator and renewer of life within and alongside of a much loved world.<br \/>\nTherefore we will find creative and recreative ways to involve people of all ages in the worship experience.<\/p>\n<p>2. Jesus calls us to be faithful followers of his way as his disciples.<br \/>\nTherefore we will seek innovative and diverse ways to grow in our experience of God from birth to death.<\/p>\n<p>3. Gifted by the Holy Spirit, each of us is equipped to serve and, sometimes to lead.<br \/>\nTherefore we will identify the variety of gifts available and nurture individual contributions to ministry at St. Stephen\u2019s, accepting and offering one another encouragement and support.<\/p>\n<p>4. Change is inevitable and provides opportunities for discovery and growth.<br \/>\nTherefore we will embrace change with creativity and courage, trusting in the Holy Spirit to guide us.<\/p>\n<p>5. Diversity is part of God\u2019s creation.<br \/>\nTherefore we will respect and celebrate our differences.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mission Statement<\/strong><br \/>\nGod seeks a world where justice and care for all of God\u2019s creation prevails.<br \/>\nTherefore as stewards of God\u2019s creation we will explore opportunities to serve and act justly in our world. We will seek to work as a team to undertake significant projects in partnership with others where appropriate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Preamble St. Stephen\u2019s Presbyterian Church is embarking on the next stage of its journey to call a minister and revitalize its ministry and mission. This document defines who we are and where we intend to go. Identity We are a community of friends with diverse perspectives seeking an all encompassing experience of God as we &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/?page_id=17\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Identity and Mission Statement&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18,"href":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ststephensottawa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}