Presbytery of Santa Barbara

MISSION STATEMENT of the PRESBYTERY OF SANTA BARBARA

Approved by Presbytery of Santa Barbara May 17, 2003

The Mission of the Church is to make disciples of Christ. Trusting in God’s gracious sovereignty in our changing world, each congregation is called to worship the Triune God, witness to the Gospel, express God’s love, justice and mercy, invite commitment to Jesus as Savior and Lord, nurture spiritual maturity, and prepare persons to participate in God’s continuing good work of redemption.

To this end, the Presbytery of Santa Barbara serves Christ and His Church by:

•Supporting the churches of the Presbytery to be healthy and effective instruments in carrying out Christ’s Great Commission;

•Equipping the ordained leaders of the Church to effectively carry out the responsibilities of servant leaders in obedience to Christ; and

•Undertaking projects to accomplish our mission that are beyond the capacity of a local congregation.

KEY VALUES

The following benchmarks are offered for evaluating how well the Presbytery is accomplishing these Mission functions in the first two areas:

SUPPORTING HEALTH IN CONGREGATIONS: There are four categories for indicating a healthy, caring and effective community of faith. Churches that are healthy are

Winning followers of Christ,

Experiencing God in their worship,

Equipping people to grow in spiritual maturity as disciples, and

Empowering persons to participate in ministry in the church and mission in the world.

EQUIPPING EFFECTIVE LEADERS: For church leaders to be effective in carrying out their responsibilities, they need to:

Grow in personal spiritual maturity,

Hone skills for guiding congregations in becoming disciple-developing communities, Represent to their congregations what it means to be Presbyterian,

Understand the changing cultural context within which our churches live.