Vision Mission Values

Vision

To know the Truth of Jesus Christ, to be known in Family and to make Him known through Service.

Mission

To provide opportunities for life change. Individual life change occurs through encounters with God’s Word. We share God’s Word as a large church family with a smaller-church feel, meeting people where they are because God met us where we were. Global life change happens one life at a time. We intentionally share across the table, walk along the bay, confer across the country and reach around the world.

God-Given Call

STF has 5 corporate habits that steer church life and leadership decision-making ministry.

VALUE #1: CAMPUS APPROACH – 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 We want to connect communities in South Tampa through neighborhood campuses, because we believe you don’t need a big building to build a strong community. The makeup of the population in South Tampa leads us to the conclusion that we must reach different people different ways. One style does not suit all, so we will use various means – and various campuses – to reach as many people as possible.

VALUE #2: FAMILY FEEL – 1 Thessalonians 2:8 STF will be a place where your name is known and His name is made known. We want you to feel that you are worshipping in a large church but fellowshipping in a small church. We want to meet your needs in an environment where you don’t have to “take a number.”

VALUE #3: GLOCAL – Acts 1:8 We believe we have received a local commission for a global mission. Global + local = glocal. We are glocal because to us success is not determined by seating capacity but by sending capacity – our capacity to reach out. We are glocal because we believe you can have worldwide appeal without neglecting the local feel. Meaningful change happens one life at a time, and so we are also glocal because everyone is our neighbor

VALUE #4: CONNECTED – Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Life-change most often happens in the company of friends. We believe that the fruit of loving God and loving others is connection. We believe that to be a light a person needs to be plugged in to a community and turned on to God’s mission.

VALUE #5: LEADERSHIP – Proverbs 29:18; 2 Timothy 2:2 Without vision people perish, and without leadership people fail. Every believer is called to serve where placed and bloom where planted. Leadership involves influence. We believe in leadership because we are called to guide people along the pathway of spiritual pursuit. We are challenged not to follow the easy path but rather to lead toward places where there is no path, blazing a trail for others to follow!

Our Processes

To accomplish these things within the church, we have four processes:

1. Leadership Development – identifying, training and equipping leaders within the church
2. Shepherding the Flock – making sure every member is cared for, primarily through small groups
3. Spiritual Formation – helping each member take steps towards Christlikeness
4. Missional Lifestyle – helping us identify ourselves as people on a mission, in every environment