OUR VALUES
New City Imphal stands with all churches in affirming the Apostle’s Creed and with the Protestant and evangelical churches in the Reformed-Baptist tradition deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures.
At New City Imphal these basic guiding values can be broken down into three: GOSPEL, COMMUNITY and CITY POSITIVE. We want these values to define us. We won’t always embody them perfectly but we repent and move in that direction.
We value the Gospel
The gospel tells us that our root sin is not just failing in our obedience of God but relying on our obedience to save us. Therefore, the gospel is a “third way”, neither religion or irreligion. The religious person may say, “I am doing the right things that God commands” and the irreligious person may say, “I decide what is right and wrong for myself”. But both ways reject as Savior (though they may revere him as Example or Helper). Both ways are strategies of self-salvation – both actually keep control of their own lives. So the gospel keeps us from legalism and moralism on the one hand and from hedonism and relativism on the other.
The gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom but is the way to address every problem and is the way to grow at every step. It affects the way we do everything at NCI – how we relate to people and work, how we motivate people, how we worship, how we take criticism. Therefore the gospel changes everything. It is “the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16) and the transforming power that we are seeking for our people and city.
We value the Community
NCI community is consists of those who have repented and believed and have a common experience of the gospel, of people who deliberately share life together and is a spirit-filled community, an alternative society that models distinctive way to do everything in life, whose visible behavior shines out and shows the world the glory of God (Matthew 5:14).
We are not a church of programs but a church of people and we invest in people. Primarily we do this through our City Groups. We believe that as the gospel transforms our hearts we begin to grow in showing Jesus to our community. We are a community of sinners in need of a savior. We are a community of broken people who are learning to trust. While we live in a very disconnected city and our lives are incredibly and increasingly fragmented, we believe that as we are called into community, we will see our lives change and be renewed by the gospel through the lives of others.
We value the City Positive
As the gospel transforms our own lives, we, as members of Christ’s body, have the opportunity to see Jesus’ Kingdom come. This happens as we bring people to Jesus and as we radically serve our city and loves our neighbors. We express this value through promoting and engaging in the arts and culture; encouraging, supporting, volunteering and teaching about the importance of justice and mercy ministries in our city and in our nation; and committing to reproduce more church plants in and around Imphal and India as the Lord leads us in prayer and resources.
At New City Imphal, evangelism is not simply one department of ministry but it permeates everything we do. So we seek to equip and motivate every member into an evangelistic lifestyle. We aim to show that the gospel lifts up the poor and reconciles the castes, classes and tribes who otherwise could not be able to live together. We also want to call our people to theological reflection, to work with excellence in their professional fields, to collaboration and networking of Christians within vocations and for respect and service to the whole world through their work. In other words, we’re not just for personal healing and help, but for social healing and for cultural renewal.