MISSION & IDENTITY
Gathered as God's family
and sent into the world
​as agents of God's mission of renewal.
IDENTITY AND MISSION STATEMENT: WHO WE ARE (BECOMING)
As a church of Jesus Christ, Valley Church has been gathered by God into a family that experiences and extends God's rescue, redemption, and renewal. Shaped by God's story in scripture and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are also sent forth into the world as agents of God's mission of redemption, reconciliation, and renewal, shining Christ's light in our valley as we journey together.
Valley Church's identity and vision are anchored in a richer understanding of the church that is given to us in scripture and is only briefly summarized here. As a church of Jesus Christ:
  • we are gathered and sent. We are the gathered assembly of faithful servants of Jesus, our king: a refuge of the reconciled and reconciling, the forgiven and forgiving, the healed and healing, those made whole by Christ and his body, the church. Renewed and empowered by the fellowship of Christ's body, shaped by hearing God's story in the Bible, and fed by the feast of the Lord's Supper, we seek to join Jesus as agents of his kingdom mission in the world. In the love of the Father, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are the sent missionary agents of resurrection and new creation in our homes, neighborhoods, places of work, and everywhere we are sent in the Greater Binghamton area and in this world;
  • we are God's Spirit-led church of Jesus Christ. We are committed to growing into our true identity as church: a community that intercedes for one another, for our neighbors, and for the world; prophets who live and speak truth with compassion, gentleness, and boldness to one another and to the world; a community who lives out its salvation for the benefit of its neighborhood, serving our neighbors, seeking the good of our community, and extending a hospitable invitation to the poor and marginalized to join us in the center of our communal life; the joy-filled bride of Christ being sanctified for the wedding feast; the people of God's self-sacrificial rescue mission in the world; the body of Christ given for the sake of the world;
  • we develop the habits and practices of the church. We are committed to growing in Christ-likeness as a community and individually. Empowered by the Spirit, we strive to love one another, welcome one another, subject ourselves to one another, confess to one another, admonish one another, pray for one another, encourage one another, comfort one another, build one another up, carry one another's burdens, spur one another on, and serve one another, not only that we might experience salvation within the gathered body of Christ, but ultimately for the good of the world.
As much as we are God's transformed people, we are individually and collectively a work in progress. We are being transformed. We are becoming just as much as we already are. Recognizing our own brokenness and our own sinfulness, we prayerfully anticipate and expect God's transforming work to continue in our lives as individuals and as a church.

We warmly welcome all who wish to join us in this journey as we grow together in God's love and grace.