Our Culture

Our Mission

“Following Jesus as a family for the good of the world.”

Following Jesus
Our question is not “What is our vision for our church?” but “What is Jesus’ vision for His church?” We proudly take our place in the tradition that stretches back two millennia to Jesus Himself, working together across time and location to fulfill His Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). We do this as we saturate ourselves in the life and teaching of Jesus, and by being transformed inside-out as His disciples. The Gospel is much more than “going to heaven when you die”; it is the climax of God’s plan to restore all things as they were originally intended to be.

As A Family
While we find great value in good Christian thinking and right belief, Jesus said that all of Scripture hangs on loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. We are a family of families, united in our love of God and one another, especially when love gets difficult. We believe that each of us has a unique set of gifts and talents and we want to create sufficient space for their discovery. As we discover and use our strengths together through the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, we are capable of great good and beauty.

We recognize the strength of evil in our world but cling to the stronger work of grace. We wholeheartedly reject the notion that there is such a thing as secular work and instead live in the reality that every moment is sacred. We take Christ with us everywhere and bring His redemptive power wherever we happen to be. We don’t come to church to be served; we become the church when we are serving.

For the Good of the World
We believe that the message of Christ will be shown to be true by the way we live our lives. We are also serious about global issues of injustice and how we as a community can give voice to those without a voice by facilitating justice and fairness however we are able. We live lives of passion, creativity, and love because we serve a passionate and creative God who absolutely loves the whole world.

Our Values

We value diversity

Ethnic diversity. Multiple generations. Economic diversity. Even diversity of opinions about matters of faith and culture. We are not the first generation to figure Christianity out. We are part of a diverse family and a long history.

We value reflection

There is so much noise and distraction in our lives! We need moments in our lives that are intentionally empty and quiet. That is why we build reflection and silence into every service because sometimes you can hear God best when the preacher is silent.

We value authenticity

Life is complex, confusing, and sacred. Sometimes we come to church full of joy and gratitude. Sometimes we come to church with a faith that feels fragile. Sometimes we deal with terrible loss, and sometimes every breath feels like a wondrous gift. When we come to church, it isn’t to pretend; it is to be honest to God and one another.

We value participation

We are a (relatively) small church, which means we all know each other and work together. We do not think of a church as a weekly worship attendance, but as a community of God’s people. We put a lot of work into our worship services, but they serve a greater purpose than “connecting to the spiritual needs of our consumers.” Our Sunday gatherings are centered around The Table; taking Communion together as a family.

We value unity

We live in a fractured world, and many of us have found that churches can be just as divided along racial, economic, political, and denominational lines. While we are not perfect, having a unity founded on Jesus that allows for disagreement on other lesser matters is very important to us and something we intentionally practice.