Aims and Values

Aims

Our aim at Ashford Vineyard, our reason for existing as a church, is simple, it’s to bring life to Ashford. Jesus made it clear that his aim was to bring life. He said, ‘The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10) Wow!

Coupled with this, Jesus modelled to his disciples how to pray and he said, ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven’. So, what it would look like if life in all its fullness existed in Ashford? What would it look like if God completely had his way in Ashford – his plan A, nothing missing and nothing broken for every person?

Well, when imagining our aims, that’s where we started and worked backwards! What can we do to help make that happen? We know we can’t do it all, but we can tackle some of what’s needed and partner with other people and organisations that long for the same. We also decided that we’d always be bold enough to regularly assess just how effective we are in achieving those aims. We use stats and stories. Stats matter to help us measure, but stories capture people and their changed lives. We’re learning all the time and improving as we go. Father God always gives His best to us and so we want to give our best to others.

We have six main aims that sit under Bringing Life to Ashford:

• Increasing people’s connection to God as Father (CG)
• Reducing the impact of poverty (IP)
• Improving aspirations and opportunities for children and young people (CYP)
• Improving health and well-being (HW)
• Developing leaders (DL)
• Strengthening families (SF)

We are committed to bringing life to Ashford and as long as AV exists, it will pursue bringing the very best that God has to offer to this precious town and its residents.