Authenticity
At Norval United Church we strive to be real, honest, and genuine; in our people, in our programs, in all that we do. This means being ready to share our joys and celebrations with one another but also being ready to share our sorrows and disappointments with one another. We are not perfect and we must be willing to admit our mistakes. Rather than running away from our challenges and frustrations we seek to encourage one another to look for and find God’s grace each day. A sense of humour helps us avoid taking ourselves too seriously. With God’s help we seek to live lives of integrity that will be an example to the world.
Community
Community has been a core value of Christians since Jesus first gathered people around him to hear the message. Community has been a core value of Norval United Church from its very beginning as a small rural church serving area farmers. The love of God, offered through Christ, changes us in community as we serve and are served, challenge and are challenged, give and receive, teach and are taught, forgive and are forgiven, fail and are encouraged and offer encouragement to fellow travelers. In experiencing all this within Norval United, we seek to live it out in our lives each day, reaching out to others as we live, learn and love together.
Spiritual Growth
Norval United Church is a community of faith, described by the apostle Paul as “the body of Christ”. We are not a social club or a service organization, even though fellowship and service are important to us. More important is our desire to grow spiritually. Through worship, prayer, study, service and action we experience transformed lives by the renewing power of God’s Spirit. This enriches our lives and leads us to be an example to others. We believe everyone is on a spiritual journey and our hope is that wherever someone is on their journey Norval United will be a place where spiritual growth happens.
Diversity
We endeavour to make Norval United Church a safe, accepting place for everyone. People come to Norval from a variety of church experiences and from no church experience. They come from a variety of life experiences and they come from different places on their journey. We strive to avoid becoming a place where everyone ‘looks the same and thinks the same’. We encourage people to explore their questions, experience God’s presence, and progress in their spiritual journey at their own pace. There are many ways of expressing and growing in one’s faith and we want to encourage those different ways, believing that with God’s leading we all can learn from one another and that our spiritual lives will be enhanced by each other.
“Can Do” Attitude
Norval United is a family with a “Can Do” attitude. We foster an environment where anyone can be proactive in responding to needs they perceive within the church or in the broader community beyond Norval United Church. If an action fits our Vision Statement and our Mission Statement and corresponds to our Core Values we want to encourage people to act. When someone has an idea, our response should not be “Oh, that will never work, we can’t do that”, but rather “What can we do to make this happen!” We will encourage dreams and support each other in our ministry together. Paul writes, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13) We seek to build upon our ‘Can Do’ attitude.
Roots
This particular family of faith is built upon a foundation laid by thousands and thousands of faithful, dedicated people who have experienced God’s presence and sought God’s guidance. We honour their commitment and their faith by telling the story over and over again. They are an example to us. We revere our heritage and respect our roots but, just as our ancestors had to dream and dare and boldly live their faith, so we will dream and dare and boldly live into the future, to broaden the foundation as we live out our faith and God’s call to us today. Our tradition does not tie us down, it gives us a solid footing from which we go forward. We need “roots for the ground and wings for the sky”.
