We believe in and strive to uphold the following values.
We are a people of faith in the Lord, God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. We believe that God is good, and He must come first. We value communal time to worship with one another, study scriptures together, and to be formed into a community together. We value scripture and recognize that its goal is to lead us to Christ. We are aware that many things in the Bible are descriptive not prescriptive. Therefore, we do not place our values on whether something is biblical, but rather whether something is Christlike. We also know that submission to God is not always easy. We hold hope in the prayer of the father of Mark 9, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”
We are a people who prize authenticity. Scripture teaches us that God values honesty and authenticity in our relationships with Him. The Psalms, which have been called the prayer book of Jesus, are full of real human emotion – full of anger, hurt, pain, joy, and delight. Jesus wept, got angry, and felt deep compassion. We can only live a life of authenticity if we, too, can honor our emotions and be the people we say we are. We are a group working to develop our integrity and transparency in our actions, words, and thoughts. We strive to have open dialogue, to ask real and hard questions knowing there won’t always be easy answers and to challenge the way we understand things. We do this through a commitment to honor one another as image bearers of God and creating a community of belonging.
We believe that every person – regardless of sex, race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, background, class, failures, sins, past, etc. – is worthy of respect, dignity, and love. We are a people committed to creating a safe brave space for all people to discover the love of Jesus. We understand that everyone’s path to the knowledge of the full measure of Christ is different, and we must meet and honor people where they are. We do not believe we have been called to fix people. We have been called to love people and to be loved in return.
To experience the full life that Jesus promised, we value habit and discipline, being spiritually fed and feeding others, silence and solitude, engaging difficult questions with scripture, and having a supportive faith that encourages one another. It is through these simple, everyday actions that we believe Christ will sand away the rough edges and mold us into the person He created us to be.
We believe that the Gospel is the good news that the Kingdom of God is near. The Kingdom of God is the world as it was created to be with Christ as its King. Jesus’ death on the cross not only offers us forgiveness from our sins but also offers restoration for the world and its systems. The Hebrew word Shalom means wholeness or peace. We value partnering with God to restore shalom in our lives and in the world. We are committed to making a difference in the world, having a direct community impact, and truly helping those in need through sustainable action.
We value joy. We strive to be a community that experiences the fullness and wholeness of all this life has to offer. We value fulfillment, purpose, and fun. We celebrate God’s existence in nature, art, music, literature, creative expressions, and one another. We gather for birthdays, happy hours, and just because. We believe that life is worth living. We value living life to the full.
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