In the Outback, there are two ways of keeping sheep: fences or wells.

We prefer wells.

Belonging at Southpoint isn’t about being in or out. It’s about movement toward the centre. It’s about being drawn together by our common thirst. At Southpoint, we are seeking to foster the widest possible sense of belonging and participation while drawing nourishment and identity from the presence of Jesus.

Visitors and regulars alike are welcome to participate in our conversations, gatherings, and rhythms of life. Belonging at Southpoint isn’t about having a static membership status or coming every week. It’s about being on a journey together towards the well of Christ.

“Come you who are thirsty . . .”

Ancient fishermen would spend many hours mending their nets. In the same way, at Southpoint we seek to make and mend connections, strengthening relational networks in and beyond our community.

At Southpoint, we have moved from an attractional (build it and they will come) understanding of church life to a missional (sent) approach. Our success as a church is not measured by running a packed Sunday morning service. We find “success” as we go out and love our extended families, neighbors, co-workers, communities, God’s creation, and the wider world. We intentionally keep our program life simple so we can volunteer, serve, and connect. We encourage people to find meaningful ways to be attentive to the needs around them.

Each year, we partner financially with global and local organizations, providing relief and development, such as Himalayan Life, Lifewater Canada, A Rocha, Youth Unlimited, Sanctuary Mental Health, and Umoja.

“All this is from God, who…gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

Trapeza is Greek for table. In the Christian writings, it often stands for the whole meal and is associated closely with the act of hospitality. The Table is a foundational ministry image at Southpoint. We gather midweek around a shared meal. We welcome people to our table with coffee and refreshments when they enter our gathering on Sunday mornings just as Jesus welcomes us to his table.

We practice hospitality with our neighbours. Both giving and receiving. We are prayerfully seeking ways to extend our table to include the stranger, the poor and the forgotten of our society.

“Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

At Southpoint, we are drawn together by our common thirst. We find our thirst quenched at the well of Jesus, who calls, “Come, all you who are thirsty.” Mirroring the wideness of Christ’s invitation, we welcome people of all cultures and ethnicities, sexual orientations and gender identities to join us in our rhythms of worship, connection, and care.

Having experienced the radical hospitality of God, we are delighted when anyone, drawn by the Spirit to our doors, enters and joins us at God’s table. We welcome people into membership based on a profession of faith in Jesus*, and we welcome people into leadership based on a recognition of their gifting, calling, and orientation toward Christ, regardless of ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Seeds are small, full of potential and can flourish when placed in the right environment. We seek to cultivate safe spaces that nurture life and growth, paying particular attention to the needs of our children. We bless and support marriage covenants made between two adults, regardless of sexual orientation and gender, and seek to support individuals and families of all shapes and sizes as part of our family of faith.

We seek to be menders of the net, working for the reconciliation and wholeness that is God’s desire for creation. We recognize that the church has participated in the exclusion and abuse of the Earth and her children, particularly those on the margins: queer** people, women, people of colour, Indigenous communities, people journeying with addictions, grief, mental and physical illness, and others feeling marginalized from power structures within society. We desire to be a refuge where people can be congruent with whom God created them to be and is freeing them to be, participating as whole and embodied people in the whole body of Christ.

*Faithful people can and will come to different conclusions. We honour the soul freedom of one another and believe that our community can include diverse understandings AND be whole. We choose to value empathy over agreement and certainty, and seek to find unity in the midst of our diversity.

**Queer—We humbly, at the suggestion of an LGBTQ member of our Task Force which drafted this statement, use the reclaimed, inclusive term “queer” in place of LGBTQ+ to respectfully acknowledge the God-given spectrum of diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities within humankind.