Community Transformation - God Himself is at work in our midst forging our destiny as a city and a region.  Therefore, we treasure every individual, neighborhood, and community - understanding that we are on holy ground and under divine construction. Furthermore, local congregations are called by God to transform our community by partnering with existing ministries of compassion and justice throughout the community while also initiating and sustaining non-existing ministries both within and outside their membership.

Sustainability - Ongoing sacrificial investments of time and energy, if done long enough, often melt disbelieving hearts while providing undeniable evidence of our compassionate God. Ministries of compassion and justice, therefore, must be designed and built with great care to go the long haul. Moreover, to better ensure community ownership and thereby sustainability, outreach to a given community must ultimately submit to the design and leadership of God’s people in that community.

Holistic - Having been created in the image of God, every individual is complex and has inherent dignity. Christian outreach, therefore, should be holistic: seeking to address the physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual components of a human being. Furthermore, holistic outreach will empower individuals to realize God’s best intentions for themselves rather than enable chronic dependency and neglect.

Relationships - The gifts of time, trust, and friendship are foundational to individual and community transformation. Compassion ministries, to be life changing, must be based on the exchange of friendship rather than commodities. We seek to build transformational, long-standing relationships of genuine trust and friendship with each other and with those we serve.

Equipping - We will support participating congregations with classroom and field-based training, ongoing peer-level coaching, and state of the art technology to enhance their efforts toward holistic and sustainable community service.

Research - Research is an integral part of community transformation. Christ’s people must take the time to gain and maintain an accurate understanding of the resources and needs of a neighborhood, community, or region. Research often identifies what God is already doing, what He is getting ready to do, and those through whom He is doing it.

Partnerships - Working with community service and faith-based organizations is a valuable and essential expression of compassion. Recognizing and appreciating their track record of community impact, it is our desire to assist local congregations to serve alongside and as a servant to these organizations.

Diversity - By embracing and utilizing the broad diversity within the Body of Christ, we are far more effective in saturating our community with His demonstrated love. We seek partnering relationships with congregations representing the full spectrum of Christ’s Body.

One Body - Christ has one Church in greater Knoxville with many congregations. Recognizing that we are family, local congregations must strive together as one Body to love and serve our community in Jesus’ name and on His behalf.

Absolutes - The Bible is our sole source of authority for faith and practice. We believe in the person of Jesus Christ, fully God, fully Man.  Salvation comes by grace through faith alone.  We believe that God’s will and His ways may be known by the work of the Holy Spirit through prayer, study of the Bible, circumstances, and the local church.

Evangelism - Faith in Christ breaks the stranglehold of Satan on a person’s life and enables personal and community transformation which is impossible without it. It is our prayer that as congregations sacrificially serve others, and share the love of Christ in word and deed, thousands in our community will come to know Him personally and be nurtured toward maturity in a local Christian congregation.

Accountability - We value and seek accountability on all levels: use of financial and in-kind resources, staff energies and focus, research methods and results, equipping strategies and ideologies, and all multi-congregation initiatives and partnerships. We are accountable to the leaders in the churches we serve and in the community we love.  We promise to tell the truth, provide accurate and up-to-date records, and honor ministry commitments.