1. Spiritual growth, godly living and theological formation are to be prized more highly than skills and pragmatics. The legacy we most care about is changed hearts, minds and lives. We’re convinced that Scripture undergirds all good Christian leadership and ministry practice.

2. The local church is the visible expression of an unseen reality – a heavenly gathering around Christ (Hebrews 12:22-23). As the gospel is preached, the church is built. It is central in God’s purposes in a way that parachurch organisations, like Multiply, are not. Our ministry is to support and serve local churches, seeking their growth and health.

3. Spiritual fruit is evidence of God’s saving work, through his word, by his Spirit, and through his people as they faithfully serve him. Prayer is how the church expresses her total dependence on God to produce such fruit in us. Therefore, we rely chiefly on God in prayer to bring about the fruit we labour towards.

4. Healthy reformed-evangelical theology will create an urgent desire to see the lost saved, and the saved matured.

5. Effective structures and systems in church life will support the love and care of God’s people and the multiplication of speaking the word. They will help multiply and mobilise the godly response that the Spirit produces through the word of God – such as prayer, generosity, evangelism and good works.

6. It is the responsibility of all Christians under God to build the body of Christ (Eph 4:12-16) and should take whatever action is open to them within the bounds of Christian freedom to seek the salvation and edification of others (1 Cor 10:31-11:1). As those who are set apart to teach, train and exercise oversight, church leaders should lead the whole church in meeting this responsibility. Accordingly, leaders should take the initiative in constantly reforming and reshaping ministries in light of the Scriptures in order to see as many people as possible saved and edified. This will mean evaluating the ‘fruit’ (or outcome) of our various ministries and practices and changing whatever we are free to change (according to Scripture), for the sake of others.

7. We can do more together than we can apart. By gathering together leaders from reformed-evangelical churches across Aotearoa New Zealand, we can provide significant help and encouragement to one another: in our theological understanding of the task and nature of ministry; in uniting in prayer for one another and for gospel progress; in the spiritual growth of our gospel heart and ambition; in improving the quality of ‘input’ activities; in assessing the effectiveness of those inputs (i.e. the outcomes); in understanding basic ministry and leadership principles; in devising better strategies; and in becoming more fruitful leaders.

8. Beyond fundamental biblical convictions concerning the nature of church, we do not hold to any one-size-fits-all strategic model or church structure. However, we do believe there is merit in sharing theologically robust, proven ministry models to leaders, and training and coaching in those models.

9. Measuring ‘growth’ and ‘progress’ in ministry is complex and always limited by our human perspective; all the same, we are convinced that the scriptures hold out an expectation that the word of God never returns empty, and that the picture at the return of Jesus is of an innumerable number of people gathered around the throne. As such we see there is value in humbly measuring growth and progress, especially over time.