Camden ....

...A Uniting Church

• We see Camden as a beacon light on the outskirts of Sydney showing the way to the whole of the Uniting Church.

a growing community of faith

• We see a regional congregation touching the lives of people from Leppington to Oakdale, from Austral to Picton, from Campbelltown to Warragamba.
• We see Camden growing numerically at a rate far beyond the rapid growth rate in the local population.
• We see a congregation intentionally growing its people to maturity in Christ, releasing them into ministry and growing and developing its leadership.
• We see a congregation investing time and energy and financial resources in the training and development of leadership.

...a community of faith

• We see a people belonging to each other. Worshipping in small groups and in a large corporate celebration.
• We see a people who hold ministry to the poor in high priority. Issues of social justice will not be foreign to us
• We see a prophetic community having earned the right to proclaim "Thus says the Lord" to those in positions of power within our environment.
• We see a people practically, creatively and sacrificially touching the human hurts and hopes of the people of Macarthur region. Touching heaven Changing earth.
• We see a people discovering new and creative ways to tap community resources in order to fund programs that allow us to show the love of God in both word and action.

We stand together.

• We see a people one in heart and spirit.
• We see a Church with leadership united and working toward a common vision, being of one accord and committing themselves to the pastors' teaching and to prayer.
• We see a church whose Ministry team model unity as they submit to each other out of reverence for Christ.
• We see a church united around its vision for ministry, offering love and respect to those in positions of authority over them.
• We see a church with nearly all of its people involved in home groups where they are affirmed, built up and encouraged and with whom they feel at one.
• We see a church that is not only united but has a Kingdom vision and models unity between the whole people of God. We see a people praying for the other churches in this community.
• We see a church that shares the wealth of is resources with the other congregations of this community offering training programs and combined events.
• We see a church whose ministry team seeks both to build up and be built up by our colleagues in ministry from other churches.

We stand together to CELEBRATE the love of God in a variety of worship styles

• We see a church committed to celebration of worship in ways which respect the variety of people's Christian experience, but which in all cases expects God to be present in power.
• We see a church providing worship services, which are relevant to the age and level of Christian maturity present.
• We see a church which teaches the Word of God, regardless of the style of worship
• We see a church which values the ministry of prayer, praying in the power of the Spirit on all occassions with every kind of prayer.
• We see a church in which prayer is an integral part of life and worship.
• We see a church in which an invitation is always given during and at the end of worship services for people to receive prayer ministry.
• We see a church building on its strength in music through the development of the Amazing Grace Academy of Performing Excellence with trained quality Christian teachers leading students and their parents to Christ while providing the best possible music tuition.
• We see Camden becoming a centre of excellence for Christian music.
• We see a church developing and promoting conferences of celebration.

We stand together to GROW in the love of God as the people of Jesus Christ

• We see a church emphasising the ministry to children and young people; engaging quality staff to give leadership in this ministry.
• We see the development of a dynamic Children's Church that is generationally different from previous Sunday School experiences.
• We see a church emphasising cell/home groups as a means of growing people to maturity in Christ.
• We see a church intentionally moving people through a program of discipleship from conversion through to being released into the ministry into which God has called them. This will occur through regularly repeated teaching programs.
• We see the development of a Christian Bible college which not only trains and releases people into ministry in Camden but is used by the wider church and trains youth workers and pastoral people to be sent out from us as missioners.

We stand together to DEMONSTRATE the love of God in our care for one another

• We see a church praying for each other in emergency situation, during worship services, in small groups, in regular prayer meetings - at all times in all ways.
• We see a church using cell/home groups as a means of caring for each other.
• We see a church practically and efficiently caring for people in crisis situations.
• We see a church, which uses programs such as Telecare to supplement the pastoral care of the cell/home group.
• We see a church with a wholistic program of caring for the aged and infirmed whether they are home bound or in health/aged cared facilities.

We stand together to PROCLAIM the love of God by reaching out in word and action to the people in the area from Leppington to Oakdale, from Austral to Picton, from Campbelltown to Warragamba.

• We see a church discovering new ways to bring the good news to the Camden community through means like Alpha, Cafe Church, personal evangelism, releasing Outreach Workers into the community etc.
• We see a church finding those whom God is calling into the Kingdom
• We see a church outreaching through the development of caring programs like the OOSH, which although in themselves may not be evangelistic become programs of pre-evangelism opening doors into the lives of families
• We see a church with a heart for mission to the wider world.
• We see a church sending out and supporting its own missionaries
• We see a church developing mission teams leading Lay Witness Missions, Mission Trips etc in Australia and overseas.
• We see a church with a vibrant accessible web-site which is aggressively maintained and which proclaims the Good News