BGMC VALUES

We believe that the person of Jesus is able to answer the question, ‘what is God like’? We uphold that Jesus is the fullest and final expression of God’s character, whose essence is love. This love was ultimately seen in Jesus’ death and resurrection, revealing God to be acting decisively for humanity to set us free. It is love therefore and not doctrine, that holds us together. We view the bible as being the inspired story of God’s people in history learning how to follow him and that we can understand it through the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

We are committed to being a community that worships God when we gather together and as we are scattered in our homes, neighbourhoods and workplaces. We believe that God is the Lord of all creation and that we can encounter him in the acts and events of every-day life. We aim therefore to understand how faith relates to the diversity of life in our contemporary society – in culture, family, politics, sport and the arts. We take seriously the sacred partnership with God of seeing change in the world through prayer.

We take seriously the command to love God and our neighbour and want the difference we make in the world to look like the person of Jesus and point to him. We are committed to helping people share in the forgiveness and fullness of life that Jesus offers the world. We embrace the sacred role of being stewards of the earth and as image-bearers of God, as we play our part in God’s work of reconciling all of creation to himself. We value the many partnerships with different community groups in helping to make Tower Hamlets a peaceful, just and hopeful place to live and work.

We believe that the umbrella of God’s love, as seen in Jesus, is big enough for everyone to be welcomed, regardless of people’s age, gender, sexuality, size, colour, bank balance, or political views. We think that church should be a place that welcomes those who believe in God some of the time, or none of the time, or all of the time. We take seriously Jesus’ command not to judge others and our calling to embody the radical, inclusive welcome of God’s Kingdom. We admit that we are constantly learning how to do this in our messy and complex world.

We acknowledge the destructive power of human sinfulness and the presence of evil in the world. We are committed to identifying and affirming what is good and identifying and opposing what is evil, and living as wisely as we can in the mess in the middle. As we anticipate the renewal of all creation, we seek to work and pray for God’s Kingdom to come here and now. We endeavour as a Christian community, in all our flaws and failure, to be a faithful sign of what this beautiful future will look like.