Our Mission, Vision & Values

Our Mission

To lead people into a mature relationship with Jesus as Lord

Our Vision

In 2010 St Hilary's & St Silas Anglican Church will be a growing and sending church with a local and global concern.
Our unifying Mission and shared Values will be evident.
Our diverse congregations and smaller groups will welcome,
support, equip and challenge people of all ages to live
Jesus’ Great Commandment and Great Commission in
Melbourne and beyond.

Our Values

St Hilary's & St Silas Anglican Church, has a set of six distinct Values;
Biblical, Holistic, Inclusive, Equipping, Strategic, Prayerful

Our understanding of God and his purposes is centred in the Bible.
We recognise the Bible as being the authoritative and reliable word of God.
We are committed to our evangelical heritage. Our teaching of the Bible is systematic and its truth is applied to our lives in a relevant way. As taught in the Bible, we believe only through faith in Jesus can a person be forgiven and have the hope of eternal life. Jesus is fully man and fully God. On the cross he identified with our frailty and experienced the consequences of our sin. He received God's judgment so that we might enjoy God's forgiveness and all of creation be renewed. We believe the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, is active in the life of individuals and the church. He brings people to faith, equips the church for mission, refreshes people in their Christian lives and conforms people to the likeness of Jesus. He enables the church to pray, to witness and to worship.

Our application of the good news about Jesus is holistic.
We believe Jesus must be proclaimed for people to come to faith in him.
We believe the values and teaching of Jesus must be integrated into the lives of those who proclaim him and must be promoted in the communities where he is proclaimed. The values that belong to the good news about Jesus and which his Spirit produces; mercy, repentance, justice, peace and hope, must be encouraged and developed wherever men and women, girls and boys are challenged to make Jesus their Lord. We believe the whole of creation is impacted by the news about Jesus and that it will be renewed when Jesus returns. This is what it means to be holistic.

Our ministry enabled by the Spirit is inclusive and equipping.
We believe teaching and leading are dependent on character, giftedness and understanding shaped by the Spirit. Teaching and leading are tasks open to all disciples, young and old, men and women, ordained and not ordained. As a church we are committed to equipping people for ministry by imparting skills, developing character, increasing biblical knowledge, giving opportunities for service and helping people to discern their gifts and passions. We are committed to helping all people see their careers and relationships as expressions of Christian ministry and we are committed to helping people consider the challenge and opportunity of ‘vocational ministry’.

Our planning under God’s guidance is strategic.
We plan our ministry always seeking to understand our surrounding culture, the needs of our community and the strengths and resources we have as a church.
We look at where God has placed us and who he has given us. It is from this research and reflection that we plan. We are a church willing to change our structures, programs and methods so we can effectively engage with our culture and community. Our strategic planning emerges from our passion to present Jesus and lead people to a mature relationship with him as Lord. It is constantly reviewed in the light of the Bible.

Our reliance on God is expressed through our commitment to prayer.
In our teaching, decision making, pastoral care and outreach we recognise it is God who must teach us, lead us, heal us and change us. We demonstrate our trust and reliance on God by praying individually and corporately. We believe this is an obedient response to God, a discipline we must develop and an effective means through which God achieves his purposes and expresses his grace.