A statement of values and identity

Through the Incarnation[1], God demonstrates His profound concern for the world, which He has made and the people who live in it. In Jesus Christ, He has revealed to us the pattern of life and living[2] that reflects His Will and Purpose for human society.

The ministry of Jesus Christ engaged with the people He met as He journeyed around Palestine, seeing and experiencing their disadvantage. He brought comfort and hope to those weighed down by injustice and misfortune and challenged the people who abused their power, influence and position.

In this work, He was sustained both by the fellowship of His circle of friends and also by a routine of prayer. Thus was He able to bear the considerable burdens that His activity placed on His shoulders.

This ministry provides a model that shapes the fulfilling of a Christian vocation in our own time and context. Both in His words and His deeds, He demonstrated that for His disciples[3], amongst whom we number ourselves, there must be an abiding concern to promote and uphold the value of every human being, by:

· Challenging in word and deed the conditions and attitudes that undermine that equal dignity

· Walking amidst the communities of the dispossessed and marginalized, meeting people where they are

· Finding strength for the task in the fellowship of Christian community and faithful prayer that recognizes that we do not work alone and unaided, but in God’s strength

The CHAT Shop organisation was founded to provide a focus for four denominations (Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and Roman Catholic) to live and learn this vocation in Arthur’s Hill, an area that is commonly served by us all.

We are an organisation founded on the dynamic of partnership between four distinct Christian denominations. We do not seek to mask our differences of perspective and theological stance, but hold them together in a creative tension, which lends rigour to our deliberations and decisions.

Together, we seek, through our words and actions, to proclaim the Gospel[4] of Jesus Christ within the context of the communities in which we live and work. Motivated by our commitment to Jesus Christ we seek to give concrete expression to that Gospel in a service founded on an unconditional love for the people we meet, which reflects the love that God has for His creation.

In so doing we value each and every person as a unique child of the God we serve; and, endeavouring always to work within the divine Will, we seek to encourage them to develop into the people God has made them to be.

As Christian people, called to mirror the constancy of God, we aim to provide a centre of stability, which places the emphasis on wholeness, thoroughness and integrity. This permits us to take the long view and requires us to be wary of shallow, short-term perspectives.

An essential part of our work is to reflect on our experiences within the framework of the Gospel, seeking to provide a prophetic voice within the community, which is also heard further afield, when appropriate, by those who shape the circumstances of the people whom we are called to serve.

Our aim always is to support people in developing their potential. We endeavour always to eschew those programmes and enterprises, which serve only to perpetuate the disadvantage that we encounter. In this we address not wants, but needs as we perceive them to be interpreting and responding to context and situation in the light of the Gospel we proclaim.

[1] The teaching of the Church that God walked on earth in the person of Jesus Christ.

[2] We base our knowledge of this on the contents of the four accounts of the life of Jesus Christ in the New Testament of the Bible.

[3] Followers of Jesus Christ, Who seek to learn from His teaching and example.

[4] The “Gospel” is the content of Christ’s teaching by word and example; by derivation, each of the four accounts of His life and teaching is called a “Gospel”.