1. We value God first as our Creator, Father, and Provider, and seek to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matt. 22:37), and to be found faithful worshipers of Him in spirit and truth even as He seeks (John 4:24).

2. We value the Bible as an accurate record of God’s dealings with mankind, the final authority for Christian faith and practice, and the only completely trustworthy source of spiritual truth (2 Tim. 3:16). Therefore we value being “workmen of the Word” (2 Tim. 2:15) in order to uphold the accuracy and integrity of the Scripture. We also value logical and systematic interpretation of the Scripture as detailed in our publication 22 Principles of Biblical Interpretation. We value continuing research into the truth of God’s Word, and humility regarding the rightness of our interpretations and inferences.

3. Because we recognize all human beings to be made in the image of God, we seek to be at peace with all, insofar as it depends on us (Rom. 12:18), and to the degree that we are not required to compromise our convictions or disobey God.

4. We value the Body of Christ, and seek to be a catalyst for true unity among God’s people based on the truth of His Word, particularly the commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Matt. 22:38).

5. We value working in community with one another to fulfill the Lord’s mission for us as a church. Accomplishing our mission will occur only if many people sharing a common vision work together toward a common goal (1 Cor. 1:9, 10). To that end we value people who are able to bring their gifts, talents, and abilities accompanied by an attitude of humility and teamwork.

6. We value God’s precious gift of holy spirit and seek to empower people to manifest that spirit for the profit of all (1 Cor. 12:7).

7. We value the ministry that every believer has been given by God, whether apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, administrator, encourager, minstrel, etc., and seek both to help people grow in their abilities and to provide opportunities for them to serve.

8. We value evangelism to all spiritually hungry people, but particularly outreach directed to the unchurched so as to not build on another’s foundation (Rom. 15:20).

9. We are committed to quality and excellence more than quantity and numbers in all that we do, whether teaching, publications, productions, events, etc...

10. We value heart-felt obedience to God’s Word and encourage “Christ-like” behavior. We value the term “Christ-like,” as opposed to “Christian,” because the term “Christian” is colored by people’s experience of Christians more than by Jesus Christ himself.

11. In International Outreach, we value a strategy of teaching the teachers, that is, enabling local leaders to effectively teach their own people, who will in turn teach others (2 Tim. 2:2). We especially value local leadership for international work because we appreciate the complexities and difficulties involved in cross-cultural communication.

12. Without being exclusive, elitist, or isolated, we value our own vision of Christian faith and practice, and therefore seek to be independent of any controlling influences from other Christian groups or denominations.

13. Believing that “all truth is God’s truth,” we value learning whatever we can from other churches, ministries, Christian denominations, or religious traditions. We will therefore continue to scout out anything that could be of value to our community.

14. We seek and value leaders who are loving, servant-hearted, balanced, flexible, and innovative, who have a strong commitment to manifesting the character of Christ and to guarding the accurate truth of God’s Word, as well as the vision, mission, and values of Spirit & Truth Fellowship International.