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Cherish Center

Every life and every story is valuable no matter the circumstance.

Our Values

Parameters of Cherish Center

ESTABLISHED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AUGUST 28, 2001

PHILOSOPHY

Cherish Center will be based on Christ-centered, biblical principles, defined as:

  • Never denying that God inspired Cherish Center and that Christ is a primary component of the ministry.
  • Not requiring conversions, but emphasizing life changes through Christ and the teaching of biblical principles. Residents will have open ears and hearts.
  • Accepting individuals of all faiths, including those with no faith.
  • Not caring where women come from, only focusing on who they are when they leave our home.
  • Grace, forgiveness, and mercy are the key elements of the ministry.

CORE VALUES

A. Every life has value and hope.

  1. Every girl has the potential for positive change. No one is hopeless.
  2. The only hope for true and lasting change is a personal relationship with Jesus and living a life based on biblical principals.

B. True ministry cares for the whole person – body, soul, and spirit.

  1. Grace, forgiveness, and mercy are the key elements of the ministry.
  2. Residents are to be encouraged and equipped to become responsible, self-reliant, and productive citizens.
  3. Young mothers are to be encouraged and equipped to make a responsible choice between adoption and parenting the child.

C. Our facility and our programming will convey a sense of security and dignity for each young lady.

  1. The home is to be a beautiful sanctuary and not an institution.
  2. All staff, board members, and others in direct association with the ministry are to exemplify a Christ-centered life.
  3. While we believe in the sanctity of life, Cherish Center is a non-political ministry. Therefore, no public statement for or against abortion is to be made on behalf of Cherish Center, because the issue of abortion does not define the ministry.

D. All funding received by the ministry must be free from restrictions that conflict with our core values.

  1. Ten percent of all profits from our thrift store and plant sale will be given to other area ministries or complementary programs.
  2. Contingency donations that make the religious component optional will not be accepted.
  3. Admission to our home will not be based on financial need.

Statement of Faith

ADOPTED AUGUST 28, 2001 ~ REVISED JULY 2005 TO ADD #10

It is important that each staff member and volunteer understand that the ministry of Cherish Center concentrates on the essentials of the Christian faith below. We are called together in unity focusing on the Word of God alone, not espousing any particular doctrinal stance that would divide us.

1. We believe there is one true God eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit – each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of deity and the characteristics of personality. (Gen 1:1; John 10:30, 37, 38; Matt. 28:19-20)

2. We believe in the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, and in His atonement for the sins of men by voluntarily dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. (John 1:1, Matt. 1:18, Heb. 4:14-16, Mark 2:1-12, 1Pet. 2:21-25, John 14:6)

3. We believe in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory. (Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, Matt. 28:16-20, Acts 1-11)

4. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God.  (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21)

5. We believe that mankind is sinful by nature and that regeneration by the Holy Spirit is essential and an absolute necessity for salvation. (Rom 3:19-25; John 3:16-19; John 5:25; Titus 3:5-6) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9

6. We believe in the present and continuing ministry of the Holy Spirit; by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. (Eph 4:30; Eph 5:18; I Cor. 3:16; I Cor. 6:10-20)

7. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto eternal life and they that are lost unto eternal damnation. (John 5:28-29)

8. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God admonishes His people to assemble together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures, and for mutual encouragement. (Rom 8:9; I Cor 12:12-13; Gal 3:26-28) (Heb 10:25)

9. We believe that human life is of inestimable worth and significance in all its dimensions, including the unborn, the aged, the widowed, the mentally handicapped, the unattractive, the physically challenged and every other condition. (Gen 1:26-28; Gen 5:1,2)

10. We believe that God’s plan for marriage is one man and one woman for a lifetime, and that God’s plan for singleness is sexual abstinence. (Gen. 1:27-28, Gen 2:24-25, Prov 5:15, Lev. 18:22, 1 Kings 14:24, Rom. 1:24, 26, 27)

11. We believe in the sanctity of human life as set forth in the scriptures:

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16)

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. (Psalm 22:9-10) Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. (Jeremiah 1:5)

12. We believe that the ultimate purpose in living is to know and glorify God and to attain eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, beginning within our own families and then reaching out to a suffering humanity that does not know of His love and sacrifice. (Jer. 29:11, Matt. 28:19, 2Timothy 1:9, Philippians 1:6, 1Cor. 6:20, 10:31)