Our Core Values

We value being...
Bible-based
We believe all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17)  As such, we choose to make the Scriptures the guideline for our churches’ life together, proclaiming what it proclaims, living as it instructs, and only restricting what it restricts.

We believe, however, that these Scriptures were never intended to be instruments of prejudice, discrimination, or hate, but are God’s love letter to all people proclaiming a hope and a future for all God’s children (Jeremiah 29:11). Being Christ-centered, we read Scripture through the lens of Jesus‘ life and teaching, who proclaimed his mission as being to “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor” (Luke 4:18-19), not to oppress or marginalize anyone.


Christ-centered
As a Christian community, the center and source of our beliefs is the person, life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth These constitute the “Good News” which are the heart & core of what Christianity is about. Our forms of worship, our doctrines, our leadership style, and even our interpretations of Scripture all have the sole purpose of leading us to focus on Jesus, to emulate Jesus, to exalt Jesus, and to act together in a way that more clearly reflects Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, & teachings. Each of these need to be constantly ready to be transformed in order that they might more fully fulfill this purpose -- and each of us are committed to transforming our lives that we might more fully reflect Jesus’ life & example through our lives.

Spirit-led
Jesus said “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when that One, the Spirit of truth, comes, the Spirit will guide you into all truth. The Spirit will not speak on the Spirit’s own; The Spirit will speak only what the Spirit hears, and the Spirit will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:12-13). So as a community we are committed to being open to the diverse ways the Spirit speaks, guiding us into truths beyond the letter of the law, applying the principles of Christianity to new and different situations. We are committed to both being led by the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit, allowing all the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be at work through our churches. And we know the outcome: when the Spirit works through a person, it brings liberation from oppression for them and those whose lives they touch, and it brings to them and those they touch a more intense focus on Jesus and the One who Sent Jesus (Luke 4:16-20; John 16:14).

A People Who Celebrate Diversity
We recognize that when God created humanity, God created human beings to be a beautiful diversity. We recognize that each person’s uniqueness is a gift of God, in all the ways they can be unique: their gender, race, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, disabilities, etc. All of these qualities are divine gifts. Though the world oppresses and marginalizes those who are labeled “different”, we believe that in God’s family, the church, these differences should be celebrated and affirmed as blessings.

Welcoming & Inclusive
Following Jesus‘ example of welcoming the marginalized and speaking in the language of the people he served, we feel that our church ought to practice a welcoming and inclusive approach to Christian faith.
Just as Jesus chose to speak in a language the people he served could understand, so we choose to include language and images for God in our worship and teaching which will allow for people from as many backgrounds as possible to relate with our loving Creator. This means avoiding, in so far as we are able, language that excludes others and using language accessible to as many types of people as possible.

This also means intentionally including people from all walks of life in leadership, ministry, and decision making, so that our church can work to prevent, in so far as we are able, any group from being excluded from decision-making.
Finally, this means that we realize the truth in Jesus’ words that “I have sheep not of this sheep-pen” (John 10:16), by recognizing that God is not limited to any institutional or confessional boundaries.  In our outreach, we acknowledge that God is working in people of other faiths and people who are in no faith community at all, while still sharing our story with all who will hear and inviting all people to become a student and follower of Jesus with us. This means realizing that, just as we must share the lessons God teaches us, so God can teach us through any person, even those we might not expect.

Interdenominational
We believe that, despite all the mistakes, errors, and divisions of the church, there is a core message that is at the heart of all the mainstream Christian traditions and movements. The Gospel message is the basic truth of our faith upon which all our different Christian traditions and expressions of Christian faith and piety spring. Because of this, we feel free to be an interdenominational fellowship, which allows for the expression of the best and the truest of our varying Christian traditions. We believe in being a safe place for Christians of varying traditions to find harmony and unity around the message of the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit. We believe that, in so far as one’s tradition can be true to Scripture and to motto “in essentials unity, in non-essentials diversity, in all things charity and love,” we ought to make room for its inclusion in our life as a church and our work in the world.

A Community that Practices Solidarity
We recognize the need to practice the biblical principle of solidarity: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Remembering how early Christians shared all in common, despite differences of class, culture, and language, we choose to practice this same solidarity, seeing people of different races, classes, sexual orientations, genders, gender identities, and cultures as our family. We practice solidarity by choosing to make sacrifices for those who are different, viewing their suffering, their experience of injustice and oppression, and their trials as also our struggle. We also choose to stand in solidarity as a church with those in our community and wider world who are suffer injustice and poverty.

Outreach-Oriented
We recognize that Jesus’ life was not spent merely in synagogues, religious services, and among those who believed as he did, but instead he was constantly involved in the community, serving others and sharing his Good News (Matthew 9:11-13). His last command to his followers was that they would go out into the world to serve it and to share with the world Jesus’ teachings, that others might become his students and followers (Matthew 28:16-20). Because of this, we value being a community of churches that is at work in our community, reaching out in whatever ways possible to do works of service and liberation for those oppressed and in need, and to make others aware of Jesus‘ message. We are not content to merely learn of God’s love for ourselves but feel a desire to demonstrate that love in social action and by sharing with others God’s love for them.

A Church with a Shared Ministry
We believe that God has gifted all God’s children with gifts for service and ministry. Because of this we believe ministry is best done not by one or two key leaders, but should be shared by as many as are willing and gifted to do the work, responsibility, and planning. Thus, we choose to try to share the baton of leadership between as many gifted people as possible, from as many backgrounds as possible. Also, we strive to share the work of fulfilling God’s dream for our church and world with as many as are willing to take part in that work, making room for the diverse gifts and backgrounds of God‘s people to be expressed in our ministries.

Whole-Life Learners
When Jesus summarized his message about how one should live, he did so by saying one ought to love “your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind…” and “… to love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-38). This is a commission that touches every aspect of one’s life and growth: one’s mind, one’s heart, one’s physical and emotional health, and one’s most intimate and trying relationships Because of Jesus’ emphasis, we feel that our teaching and practice of Christianity ought to apply Jesus’ teachings in such a way that all of who people are is strengthened and made whole by God, not just some “religious” aspect of their life and personality. We also believe that those who lead in our ministries should model this whole-life growth, by setting as first priority growing healthy Christ-centered practices, attitudes, and relationships and teaching only what they have learned to apply personally in their own lives.

A Ministry That Empowers Others For Life & Ministry
Jesus told his followers to go out “teaching [others] to observe all that [He] commanded” (Matthew 28:20); likewise, St. Paul tells us that God the Spirit gives each believer special gifts that are meant to be put to work in sharing Jesus’ message and doing his works of setting others free (Romans 12:1-7; cf. Luke 4:16-20). This means every member is made to be, in one way or another, a minister who can live a life like Jesus’ and who can share in the work of making Jesus’ dream for our community and our world a reality. Because of this, we feel that our duty is to equip and empower others to be able to grow on their own until that they no longer are dependent on another minister or priest to connect with God, but have developed their own intimacy with God and Spirit-shaped character We also feel we have a commitment to equip and train all who are willing to discover their own gifts and calling, that they can find their place in fulfilling the work of Jesus in the world, equipping and empowering others for a Christ-like life and Christ-centered ministry.  Everyone who is a child of God is called of God to serve Jesus and the world!