Brenda J. Cimbura, M.A. |
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Personal Mission Statement
To help individuals find communion (deep relationship and understanding) with Christ and others, and enable them to connect, care for and change the communities where they live, work and worship with greater intention, conviction, and integrity.
Philosophy of Ministry
My philosophy of ministry is based upon my passion and conviction that God desires to know and be known to His children, and that I am an extension of His heart and love to those I serve. To effectively care for a post-modern church, I believe that the inspired Word, prayer, worship and the Holy Spirit's leading must be the foundations where authenticity allows grace to touch lives, and His forgiveness and love can invade the soul.
Understanding the scope of influences like post-modernism, family dynamics, sexuality, relationships, stress and faith, cannot be underestimated in being able to effectively minister to this generation, its culture, and the life experiences that have shaped individuals. The ability to empathize with their struggles, fears, hopes and dreams is key to touching and nurturing souls toward the love of Christ.
Love is at the epicenter of it all and it is experienced deeply in relationship to God and relationships with other people. When it comes to impacting and transforming lives, my abilities and skills can only get me so far. To be an relational instrument in peoples lives requires me to actively see others through the eyes of God. I seek to do the following:
- take the time to enter into relationship with them and listen;
- take the effort to love them as though I am the only person who will do so today;
- and take the opportunities to lead and walk alongside them towards a deeper relationship with God as they learn about His love for them.
To accomplish the above, I must pursue the goal to model and create a ministry climate where people are valued, feel safe, desire to be, and where Christ is the lens where ideas come into focus.
I believe that being real, relevant and relational is the hallmark of successfully imparting truth, challenging personal growth and character transformation, and equipping them to pursue the God-given purpose for their lives.
I believe that organization, strong business ethics and strategy support effective ministry where creativity and inspiration can flourish; thus enabling people to engage effectively in the ministry they are called to and think outside the confines of the "box" of tradition.
I believe that the church must be an extension of the real world classroom where people are allowed to explore life issues in an open, forgiving, and healing environment. Through relationships, individuals learn how to integrate, live and reflect Christ according to spiritual insights that apply to their situations.
In order to meet the spiritual needs of this generation I contend that these values must be integrated into my philosophy of ministry:
- Authenticity - Being real and being OK with that
- Relational connectedness - Transformation happens in community and we belong to something bigger than ourselves
- Elasticity - Change is expected and encouraged
- Practicality - The truth applies to real, daily life stuff
- Fun - Laughter and spontaneous enjoyment are serious business
- Interactivity - There are no spectators on our journey together to "become"
- Experiential learning -The integration of faith applied to the individual's personal life encourages transformation in character, knowledge and belief
- Simplicity - The truth is easily understood, translated and applied
- Holiness - God is real, powerful and He cares about us
- De-institutionalizing the church - Its not about our organization's numbers, it's about the Kingdom...and the Kingdom is where we live, work and worship ...and those "numbers" are His children who need to know Him
Copyright © 2008 Brenda Cimbura. All rights reserved.