This week I’m continuing the series on our core values at Calvary. If you missed last week’s post, you can check it out here. This week, we’re looking at the value of “Building Relationships.” This is something that is the driving force behind a lot of what we do in our church and community. We believe that relationships are more than just a luxury of life, but a necessity. Because of this we hold strongly to the idea that “Relationships are the primary vehicle of transformation in our lives and our community.” And this is why we focus so much on creating environments for people to build relationships, and why we so actively look to partner with our community.
First, when it comes to building relationships, the belief can be for good American Christians like us that we don’t really need anyone else. We are taught from a young age that independence is the primary indicator of maturity. The reality is that we all need each other. That’s why God didn’t just create Adam, but he also created Eve. If we could do this thing called life on our own Adam would have been fine by himself. But God created the human race from the beginning with a need and desire for relationships. And it’s through these relationships that we ultimately grow. Proverbs 27:17 teaches us that, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” That means that through relationships growth will ultimately happen in our lives. The sign of true maturity isn’t independence, but an interdependence that makes you in a better version of yourself. Our goal then is not independence, but to find others that can make us stronger and better.
The second value of relationships is with our community. This is so important, because we believe God has placed in this community for a reason. We pray, work and serve to make this community better. In the end, we don’t want to be a church that leverages our community to build our church, but we want to leverage our church to build our community. What a shame it would be if our community was no better because Calvary was here. Because of this, we strive to build relationships with community organizations, leaders and programs to come alongside them and help create a better community. Ministry and transformation aren’t simply limited to Sunday mornings, but they most often happen in our community through the relationships we establish.
And these are the two aspects to Calvary’s value of ‘Building Relationships.” To do this, we intentionally create environments for people to build relationships, and we actively pursue opportunities to build relationships with our community. That’s because “Relationships are the primary vehicle of transformation in our lives and our community.”
Nick Poole 
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