Opportunity Presbyterian Church

Convenant For Service

We, Opportunity Presbyterian Church of the Spokane Valley (OPC), affirm the one God, sovereign Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of the universe. Out of great love, God took the human form of a servant, reconciling this fallen and broken world to himself through the gift of eternal life. Through the gift of faith, we respond to God's invitation to become fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ; welcoming others to share this good news with them, love God and our neighbor, care for the sick and brokenhearted, feed the hungry, work for justice on behalf of the oppressed, seek peace and reconciliation, and be good stewards of all God's creation. We acknowwledge that we live in a culture where self-focus is preeminent and where selflessly following Jesus Christ in our own strengths impossible; and we acknowledge that only by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us can we find the strength to follow Christ and live according to his principles instead of the diictates of this culture. With God's grace, we commit to a ministry of service based on the vision and guildelines of this covenant.

Vision --- We, Opportunity Presbyterian Church, desire to develop power sharing, fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ:

• By encouraging those of every age in our church family, through prayer, word, action and education, to gain an increased passion for sharing the good news of the Gospel, and to be personally involved in some form of service in the name of Christ.
• By integrating service into every area of the life of the church, recognizing that prayer and service in Christ's name have the power to transform both the giver and the receiver, maturing and equiping them for service.
• By receiving the courage the Holy Spirit gives us to recognize and resist our own and out culture's preoccupation with self-interest and material possession, and instead, to serve those who are in need and seek justice and mercy for oppressed people.
• By working, as God's people, to transform and empower our society and culture by being witnesses of Christ's Kingdom.

Guidelines

We, Opportunity Presbyterian Church, commit to uphold the following principles as we minister in service:

• Seeking, Welcoming: We seek to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with one another, our community and the world through word, action and education and we will do so with love and respect. We believe one of the goals of evangelism is to establish regeneration communities of believers in all groups of people in our society and the world.
• Grace Practicing, Family Building: We will work to develop interdependent relationships with the organizations and individuals we support and serve, and emphasize the importance of relationships in evangelism. Relationships between our congregation adn those we support will be an important consideration in the proccess of allocating our financial resources.
• Power Sharing: We will raise up servants who, like Chirst, are characterized by humility, receptiveness, accountability to the body of Christ, and an eagerness to affirm the gifts and ideas of others.
• Ministry of Prescence: We aspire to be a light to the City of Spokane Valley and the surrounding communities, a welcoming place for all, and a place of refuge for the poor, the broken and the strangers who come to us. We commit to make OPC a place that receives all people and points them toward Christ.
• Witness to the City: We seek to take the love of Christ into the City of Spokane Valley and surrounding communities, nurturing the community life by encouraging dialogue among the cultural, political, economic and spiritual dimensions of pulbic life, working for peace and reconciliation and encouraging wise stewardship of God's creation.
• Gift Developing: As our inward journey moves us toward being fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to the outward journey of service to others and we acknowledge the gifts given each person by the Holy Spirit for that purpose. Therefore, we commit to encourage and support each other by striving to:
  • Inspire and educate through Biblical teaching and service and provide opportunities to discern individual gifts and each person's calling from God.
  • Value the gifts of each person, young or old, and provide a wide variety of opportunities to serve, recognizing the great diversity of gifts, passions and levels of experience.
  • Provide opportunities to serve that challenge us to grow by exposing us to Christ's unique work in different cultures, not only in other parts of the world but locally as well.
  • Celebrate the varied acts of service performed by individuals and support those called into long and short term commitments to serve through prayer, regular encouragement, and financial resources.
• Ministry Focus: We seek to provide opportunities to serve that challenge us as a congregation, stretching us to a point of being dependent on the Holy Spirit. We will emphasize those service opportunities that provide personal involvement for us. We will maintain a commitment to local, regional and global opportunities, recognizing our unique call to serve our immediate community. And, we will maintain a commitment to both denominational and non-denominational ministries.