Vision

Song of Songs 2:8-13
8
Listen! My beloved!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10
My beloved spoke and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.
11
See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13
The fig-tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me.’

The COGS declaration

Lord, we decree and declare that we are empowered by your Holy Spirit to rise up in Crookhorn.

With courage and boldness we will bring revival to this area.

We declare that your Good News will be preached; the broken hearted bound; the captives freed and people in darkness released.

Crookhorn is your community and we declare that it will be built on the foundation of love, grace, mercy and truth.

We decree and declare Crookhorn healed and transformed and a beacon to the borough of Havant.

We declare that our building is only a tool and our mission is to be incarnational in our community.

We declare unity across the generations and across Crookhorn Lane.

We decree and declare that no enemy stronghold over our lives, your Church or Crookhorn will prosper.

We declare that Faith will move mountains and do incredible things in our community because we believe Your Word.

We declare we will see healing, miracles and lives transformed.

Lord we are yours.

Use us.

Amen

UP..IN..OUT

We want everything that we do in COGS to have the same aim: to release the Kingdom of God in this place.

We don’t want to be doing anything the Lord is not already working in. He is the head, we are the body, He leads, we follow. And we do that through our Up, In, Out vision

Building Back Better

As we go back into church, albeit gradually, Covid-19 has offered us an almost clean sheet. This is an opportunity to grow together a to Build Back Better and to expect great things to happen.

Our Prayer for Crookhorn states.

“Let us be a people who will rebuild this area on the foundation of love, grace, mercy and truth.”

These are the foundations upon which we Build Back Better by tying them to our vision.

We have identified four priorities:

1. Welcome
2. Discipleship
3. Outreach
4. Prayer

The purpose of these priorities is for the church of the Good Shepherd to grow

- Numerically by sharing the love of Jesus
- In servant-heartedness by following the example of Jesus
- And Spiritually by growing disciples for Jesus

Whatever activity we’re doing we need to know how it fits in with our vision to Build Back Better

Welcome

We will seek to welcome people betond the initial meeting. Our desire is to provide a welcome that enables people to quickly feel at home, form meaningful relationships, and find their place in CoGS ministry.

Outreach

We will serve our community’s needs before our own preferences, ensuring that as we do, we share the Good News of Jesus with Crookhorn

Discipleship

We will develop a culture of discipleship, where people of all stages of their faith are drawing nearer to God. Specifically we will create a culture of servant-heartedness, where people currently sitting on th efringe of the church are encouraged and enabled to take the next step in theor faith as committed church members.

Prayer

We believe in a God who hears and answers prayer. We see prayer as the activity which undergirds and weaves its way through every aspect of life and faith.