OUR VISION
Gospel saturation, a day when every man, woman, and child has a daily encounter with Jesus in word and deed.

OUR VALUES
We’re tired of division based on what we’re “not” or what we’re against. Instead, we want to be known as a family of churches that defines itself by who we are and what we’re for. These 10 values are the proactive and formational pursuits our churches and leaders pursue as we establish and equip churches. Each describes a unique emphasis within our churches and the broader movement.

WE PURSUE GOSPEL-CENTRALITY
The good news about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is not simply a message to receive when coming into the faith, but is the core reality that shapes how we lead, how we serve, how speak, and how we grow as followers of Jesus within community and on his mission.



WE ARE STORY-FORMED
The story of God, as told in the Bible, reveals the missional record of who God is and what God is doing in, through, and for the world. It is the true story of the whole world. Discipleship is participating in that story and allowing it to shape our own life stories.



WE START WITH BEING BEFORE DOING
When making disciples through community and while on mission, we root disciples first in their new identity in Christ. We believe knowing who you are leads to how you live. If we reverse this, we’ve created legalism apart from the powerful gift of grace to make us new. 



WE ARE SPIRIT-EMPOWERED
We pursue a reliance on the power, wisdom, and presence of the Holy Spirit for all we do. We don’t look to models, gifts, or tools to transform lives, but look to the work of the Spirit operating in us and through us in everything we do.



WE MAKE DISCIPLES IN COMMUNITY ON MISSION
We believe the context for disciples to be made, to grow into maturity, and sent out on mission is within community. We structure and support our churches around the discipleship principle that we are on God’s mission and we are God’s mission. Similarly, the community of disciples is the context in which people who don’t know Jesus encounter the love of Jesus.


WE HAVE SHARED LEADERSHIP
While the biblical model for making disciples is through community, the model for leadership is also through plurality. We believe every layer of discipleship within our churches requires diversity of gifts, stories, and personalities to lead. Our churches and missional communities are led through leadership teams serving Jesus in unity.



WE PURSUE MULTIPLICATION

The mission of God is local and global. It’s across our streets and down the street; but it’s also across town, across our countries and across the world. We look beyond our place and work toward the multiplication of communities and churches as outposts of the kingdom beyond our place. 



WE CONTEXTUALIZE EVERYTHING
As we plant new churches and communities, we believe the gospel, identity statements, and practices of the church must be internalized and contextualized to the people, language, idols, and circumstances of those new places. This list, in fact provides the guiding principles in which leaders play, experiment, and develop new practices. 



WE ARE ALWAYS BEING REFORMED
We don’t believe we’ve arrived. In fact, the process of discipleship is growing in repentance and belief as we follow Jesus. We humbly walk in repentance as a way of life that leads to changes in how we behave, how we lead, and how we speak. 



WE CHOOSE KINGDOM COLLABORATION
We pursue partnerships, connections, and genuinely shared ministry with other churches, organizations, and nonprofits. We choose the kingdom over logos.


For more info, go to www.wearesoma.com