Our welcome statement says
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but what does this really mean?
This page reflects part of an ongoing journey at St John’s, as we seek to become a church deeply rooted in Jesus and shaped by His love. If you are unfamiliar with our vision and values, have a quick read of them here.
Through prayer, conversation, study, and listening, we have been reflecting on what genuine welcome looks like. We are committed to being a church where everyone is welcomed, safe, and treated with dignity and respect; somewhere people can truly call home.
We know that unity does not mean uniformity, and that people can hold convictions differently while still treating one another as family.
We want St John’s to be a place where people are safe to ask questions, encounter Jesus, and grow in faith and community together.
To help reduce confusion or assumptions, particularly for those considering becoming part of St John’s, we have outlined our current understanding and approach to questions around marriage, sexuality, and gender.
The following statements reflect both our convictions and our ongoing commitment to listen, learn, and walk together.
Marriage
We recognise that all relationships and commitments, irrespective of sexuality, are deeply significant and relational. We encourage individuals to seek God’s wisdom, shaped by Scripture, community, and the call to faithful, covenantal love.
​The church upholds biblical principles of love, faithfulness and covenantal integrity. We understand covenantal integrity to involve an explicit, intentional commitment made before God and witnessed by others, rather than a purely private declaration between two people.
At St John’s, we celebrate and support marriage as a meaningful and important way of living out this kind of commitment, offering clarity, stability, and accountability for couples, families, and the wider community. Marriage is a recognised and established expression of this covenant. We also acknowledge that some couples seek to embody these same covenantal commitments outside of legal marriage. In such cases, we do not reduce the relationship to legal status alone, but look for the presence of these covenantal characteristics in practice, such as a clear public commitment, faithfulness, mutual responsibility, and accountability within a community.
Our role is to offer pastoral care and discipleship, walking alongside individuals and couples as they navigate their commitments before God and build relationships that are healthy, faithful, and rooted in God’s love.
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*A note on singleness: it belongs here too, not as an afterthought but as an equal. We want to resist any assumption that marriage is the destination and singleness the detour. Christian tradition has always held that singleness is not a lesser path but a distinct and honoured calling. Any vision of human flourishing that centres marriage as the goal quietly diminishes singleness, and we don't want to do that.
Remarriage
We affirm that divorce is sometimes necessary. Remarriage can be a path toward healing and restoration, and we encourage individuals to seek pastoral guidance, as they enter remarriage with care, wisdom, and a commitment to honouring God. We also want to recognise those who have lost a spouse; widowhood brings its own grief and its own questions about the future, and remarriage after bereavement is equally honoured and supported within our community. We also recognise that remarriage is not the only path forward. Remaining single after divorce or bereavement is a considered and faithful choice, and we honour that equally.
Divorce
We acknowledge that broken relationships exist in an imperfect world, and we seek to support individuals pastorally through these challenging situations. We encourage those struggling in a relationship to seek reconciliation and make meaningful efforts to repair the relationship, when it is safe and appropriate, before considering divorce. The church's role is to walk alongside individuals in this process, offering grace, wisdom, and pastoral care as they discern the path forward. This approach also extends to relationships that were never legally formalised, recognising that the same principles of reconciliation, care, and commitment apply to all committed relationships, regardless of legal status.
Sexuality
We acknowledge that questions of sexuality and attraction are deeply personal and complex, touching on people’s identity, relationships, and faith. As a church, we seek to be a loving family where everyone can find a home. Our welcome is without condition, grounded in the conviction that every person is made in God’s image and deeply loved by God. Therefore, we recognise the dignity, gifting, and calling of every person, irrespective of sexuality, and welcome all to participate fully in the life and community of St John’s.
We believe that committed, faithful relationships, irrespective of sexuality, can reflect the covenantal love and grace of God. As a church, we seek to walk alongside all individuals and couples as they discern how to honour God in their relationships. Where any couple desires to express their covenantal commitment through marriage, St John’s supports our pastors in facilitating this.
We believe that an individual's gifts and character are the key to discerning whether they should be in a leadership role. Someone’s sexuality in and of itself is not a barrier to serving in any role within St John’s Church, including leadership.
Sex
We affirm that individuals are called to honour God in all areas of life, including their sex lives. Sex is a gift from God, for this reason sex is not casual or trivial. We believe that sexual intimacy is best within a covenantal relationship: committed, accountable and marked by faithfulness, exclusivity, consent, and long-term responsibility. Sexual behaviour that is exploitative, coercive or unfaithful, does not reflect God’s design.
We recognise that individuals must discern how to live faithfully in their context. Those in leadership carry a particular responsibility to model this discernment: seeking God's guidance, remaining accountable, and drawing on pastoral support where needed. The church’s role is to learn from, support, and walk alongside one another as we seek to honour God, and grow in maturity, grace, and Christlike love.
Gender
We acknowledge that questions of gender and identity are deeply personal and complex, touching on how each person experiences being made in God’s image. Every human being is equally valuable and deeply loved by God, created to reflect God’s image and invited into relationship with Him.
As a church, we seek to be a family where everyone can find a home. Our welcome is without condition and grounded in the conviction that all people, whatever their experience or expression of gender, carry God’s dignity, gifting, and calling. We celebrate the diversity within God’s creation and assert that gender identity or expression is not a barrier to belonging, participation, or leadership within St John’s.
We believe that following Jesus involves bringing every part of our lives before Him in trust and surrender. The fruit of the Spirit is the truest sign of a person’s discipleship and growth in Christ. Therefore, leadership and participation in the life of the church are discerned through character and faithfulness rather than conformity to particular gender norms or expectations.
Our Vision and values
We believe that God’s love can transform lives and communities, and we want to see that happening in the places that we live. We call ourselves disciples because the most important thing in our lives is to love God and learn how to do what Jesus said to do. Although a diverse group of people, we are a family together and want to share our lives generously with each other.
Loving God, loving people
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Kingdom: We want everyone to find hope in God's Kingdom, tell people about Jesus and make disciples of him.
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Nurture: We want to spiritually nurture and care for the people within our groups and church family.
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Following Jesus: We want to grow in the ways of Jesus and follow his lead.
Our values
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Pursuing God’s Will Together: We believe God builds His church and it is our responsibility to listen to his heart for what he wants and be led by that.
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Culture of Honour: We choose to speak well of others and create an environment where the inherent dignity of each person is recognised and celebrated.
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Everybody Gets to Play: We believe in the Priesthood of all believers and that everyone, young and old, irrespective of their background, is empowered to serve in God’s Kingdom.​