Our Vision People come to know and follow Jesus and lives are changed by the transforming power of God’s Spirit.
Our Mission To be Jesus to our community, the disadvantaged and the developing world.
Our Values Praying, Caring, Giving and Serving.
Praying
We all know the importance and benefits of regular and persistent prayer, so clearly and frequently outlined in the Bible.
At St James there are many opportunities to join with others in prayer:- prayer ministry after every 10:30 am service; home groups and other small groups; prayer partnerships; accelerator prayer, prayer walking, monthly prayer breakfast and more.
Caring
St James is a caring community. We have a pastoral care team, prayer ministry and very active Mothers’ Union. As well as all the caring that goes on through our network of home groups, there is an incredible level of personal care going on every day. It seems that God has given us a particular calling to this ministry.
Through care and love people can develop and flourish.
Giving
We recognise that we serve a generous God and that all we have comes from him. St James responds by being a generous community. Most give regularly to the church (as well as to other causes in many cases) and often support special projects in the church too.
As well as giving to the church, early believers gave to one another as each had need. At St James there is a warm spirit of generosity to each other too. By living generously we reflect the heart of God.
Serving
St James is a serving community. Many serve God and each other by giving time to the work of the church. We believe that we have all been given gifts. We help each other find and use our gifts to serve one another and our community.
The vision, the mission and four values enable us to fulfill the St. Alban’s Diocesan mission of
and the goals of Going deeper into God, Transforming communities and making new disciples.
Going Deeper into God
St James is a community that loves to go deeper into God. We long to build our faith and know Jesus better through worship, prayer, Bible study, openness to the Holy Spirit and fellowship with other believers. We like to grow by living out our faith every day, using our gifts and God given creativity. We build from the past to meet the needs of the future, seeking out where God is leading us.
Transforming Communities
St James is a community that engages with Thorley, Bishop’s Stortford and the world through many ministries. We want to be even more rooted in our own communities and see communities transformed through faith shared, loving service, justice and mercy.
Making New Disciples
St James is a community who have recognised the need to add to our number. We believe this is biblical, a clear command of our Lord. Personal invitation is at the heart of this call. We simply invite others to “come and see” and decide for themselves, being ready, of course, to give a reason for the hope that we have.
Vision
As we live out our values, more people come to know and follow Jesus and we see lives changed by the transforming power of God’s Spirit.
We see the church, St Barnabas Centre and home groups filled with worshippers every week – if not every day!
We see a significant positive impact being made in Thorley, Bishop’s Stortford and beyond as the number of active, comitted disciples of Jesus Christ grows.