Rooted in Scripture. Serving Sierra Leone.

Working with the Churches, Scripture Union aims to:

• Make God’s Good News known to children, young people and families.
• Encourage people of all ages to meet God daily through the Bible and prayer.

So that they may:

• Come to personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Grow in Christian maturity.
• Become both committed Church members and servants of a world in need.

Evangelism and Teaching

• We are committed to teaching basic Christian truths as an essential part of evangelism.
• We aim to express God’s Good News to children, young people and families not only in words, but also by building caring relationships with them.
• We make every effort to communicate the Gospel in contemporary language and in ways appropriate to the context.
• We emphasize that faith should always lead to action and growth in Christian character and service.
• We acknowledge the Gospel’s inescapable social dimensions. It involves service to others and concern for social justice, with special responsibility for children and young people who are poor, deprived or exploited.
• We encourage children to follow Christ in ways appropriate to their age, culture, background, home and family situation, and level of maturity.
• We believe the new birth is a profound supernatural experience brought about by the Holy Spirit. We invite people to respond to His work in their lives while guarding against superficial responses.
• We work in ways that reflect our beliefs and cooperate appropriately with welcoming organizations and institutions, including schools.

Bible Ministries

• We emphasize the significance of the Bible as a whole.
• We encourage people to read the Bible so that they come to repentance, faith, obedience to God and worship.
• We prepare systematic programmes and materials for children, young people and adults, appropriate to their age and situation.
• We are committed to thoughtful, prayerful and regular Bible reading that responds to the message of the whole Bible rather than isolated passages.
• We interpret the text so that people in contemporary situations can hear the Bible’s message from its original context.

Churches

• We recognize our part in God’s worldwide family and seek to work positively with a variety of churches.
• We encourage people who come to faith through our ministries to participate in the life of a local church fellowship.

Equality and Unity

• We believe all human beings are of equal worth in God’s sight and all who put their faith in Christ are one in Him.
• We exercise our ministries without discrimination based on race, colour, gender, language or social position.
• We recognize Scripture Union worldwide as a family of national movements in which resources can be shared responsibly on the basis of trust.
• Because we come from diverse backgrounds, we express our Christian commitment in varied and creative ways.

Volunteers and Staff

• A relatively small staff team recruits, motivates, trains, equips and supports a larger body of volunteers who work in partnership.
• We believe the Holy Spirit confers leadership gifts on Christians of all nations without discrimination. We encourage national leadership while recognizing the contribution of people from other countries.
• Staff and volunteers from varied backgrounds are united in commitment to Scripture Union’s aims, beliefs and working principles.
• While involved in Scripture Union activities, we handle controversial issues—including baptism, spiritual gifts and church order—in ways that promote harmony.

Biblical Standards

• We follow biblical principles in our administration, publicity and care for staff and volunteers.
• We honour God by combining prayerful reliance on Him with the best available means and the highest possible standards.
• We pray for financial support in dependence on God and communicate our needs to the Christian public without distorting the truth or using undue pressure.

Additional Convictions

• The new birth is a supernatural and profound experience brought about by the Holy Spirit. The Movement guards against superficial decisions and spurious professions of faith while pursuing wholehearted, God-guided evangelism.
• Christian growth must develop Christian character and a sense of vocation; doctrine and behaviour must not be divorced by an inadequate presentation of the faith.
• Young people should be brought into the life of the churches. Evangelism that lacks this concern does not fulfil the Movement’s basic aims.
• In schools and churches, we sincerely cooperate with authorities as far as possible without compromising doctrine or purpose.
• Scripture Union retains its historic interdenominational character and encourages members to participate loyally and effectively in their churches. The Movement works among churches and its workers are members of churches.
• All true believers in Christ are one, without distinction based on race, gender, language, colour or social position, and are of equal worth before God, who shows no partiality.

God and the Human Race

We hold that the Lord our God is one—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and that He fulfils His sovereign purposes in creation, revelation, redemption, judgement and the coming of His kingdom by calling out from the world a people united to Himself and to one another in love.

We acknowledge that although God made us in His own likeness and image, conferring dignity and worth and enabling us to respond to Him, we are members of a fallen race; we have sinned and fallen short of His glory.

We believe the Father has shown His holy love by giving Jesus Christ, His only Son, for us while, through our sinfulness and guilt, we were subject to His wrath and condemnation. He has shown His grace by putting sinners right with Himself when they place their trust in His Son.

We confess Jesus Christ as Lord and God: truly human, born of the virgin Mary; the sinless Servant, full of grace and truth; the only Mediator and Saviour, dying on the cross in our place, representing us to God and redeeming us from the grip, guilt and punishment of sin; Victor over Satan and all his forces; raised from death with a glorious body, taken up to be with His Father, and returning personally one day in glory and judgement to establish His kingdom.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgement; makes Christ’s death effective to sinners; calls them to repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ; through the new birth makes us participants in the life of the risen Christ; dwells within all believers; illuminates Scripture; produces His fruit; grants His gifts; and empowers believers for service in the world.

The Scriptures

We believe that the Old and New Testament Scriptures are God-breathed, their writers having spoken from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They are therefore fully trustworthy in all they affirm and are our highest authority for faith and life.

The Church and Its Mission

We recognize the Church as the body of Christ, held together and growing up in Him: both the worldwide fellowship and the local congregation in which believers gather.

We acknowledge Christ’s commission to proclaim the Good News to all people, make them disciples and teach them to obey Him. We also acknowledge His command to love our neighbours, resulting in service to Church and society, reconciliation with God and one another, liberty from every kind of oppression, and the spread of Christ’s justice in an unjust world—until He comes again.