Our values

Belief – we are committed to the historic Christian truth of the Bible. A fuller statement of this is set out in our basis of faith. We recognise that faithfulness to the teaching of the Bible has historically been one of the main reasons Christians have been persecuted.

Character – we believe that while competence is important, character is essential. In particular, we should seek to treat other people with love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).

Courage – we recognise that there are risks in speaking about the persecution of Christians, but we believe God has called us to do this and we are called to be both courageous (1 Chronicles 28:20) and wise (Matthew 10:16).

Compassion – God is compassionate and demonstrates his compassion by acting on behalf of his people when they cry to him for deliverance. He also calls us to be similarly compassionate (Psalm 103:13; 1 Peter 3:8).

Honesty - we should never say something we know is not true.

Integrity – our values should run right through the organisation and apply to everyone, what we say are our values is what we should do.

Justice – we aim to treat all people fairly including our staff and supporters and those who face persecution. God calls us to ‘Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy’ (Proverbs 31:9).

Patient endurance – God calls those who are persecuted to ‘patient endurance and faithfulness’ to him, even in the face of imprisonment or death (Revelation 13:10). We must be prepared to do the same.

Research integrity – our research must be objective and follow the highest standards of research ethics.

Respecting people – We believe that all people, whatever their religion, are made in the image of God and so uniquely worthy of respect and dignity and are loved by God (Genesis 1:26-27; John 3:16). As such, we make a fundamental distinction between people and belief systems. Whilst we may identify particular beliefs and ideologies as part of the motivation for persecution of Christians, we will never seek to encourage attitudes which dimmish the respect due to people of any religion, belief or ideology.

Selflessness – we are not in this for ourselves, or for personal benefit (Mark 10:42-45). We exist to serve other people, in particular Christians facing persecution.

Trustworthiness  - we believe that as an organisation people should be able to trust us to do what we say we are going to do (Galatians 5:22).

Wisdom – we recognise that not everyone follows these values and that persecution often involves false claims made by persecutors (Matthew 5:10-12). Jesus warned us to ‘be innocent as doves and as wise as snakes’ (Matthew 10:16).

Why our values matter

These values reflect both our Christian ethos and more widely accepted standards of public life, such as the seven Nolan principles. [1]

[1] Set out in the 1995 report of the committee on Standards in Public Life, chaired by Lord Nolan cf ‘The Nolan Principles’ Good Governance Institute 1 June 2020 [accessed 23 August 2022].