Over the years I have thought a lot about what makes a church effective. I have come to the conclusion that effectiveness is driven by many factors under the direction of God with the cooperation of His people.
Unity is a major component of a church’s health, vitality and success. Unity is having a common goal with a common means of reaching that goal. At Woodside there are a number of things that we embrace that build unity:
- Our beliefs found in our statement of Faith.
- Our Values
- Our understanding that Woodside belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and we are here to serve Him.
- Our deep love for the Lord driving our desire to grow to be like Him while we tell others about Him.
- Our mission statement “To honor God by bringing lives into harmony with Him and one another in worship, fellowship, evangelism, and discipleship..”
- Our vision statement “To impact our region and beyond with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ”.”
- Our emphasis on the battles that matter. We know the hills we will die on and we know what is not worth fighting over.
- Our passion to be used of God. We will by Faith follow His leading.
The wicked one has perfected division and disunity as effective tools to disable and sideline churches. A church’s unity is so fragile that it often does not take much to destroy it. Once unity has been lost it often takes a lot of work, time and prayer to regain it.
I look at our unity at Woodside as a gift of God rather than results of our efforts. Yet we must guard and protect this unity to be the most effective in bringing Him glory.