WHO WE ARE

Who We Are

  1. We cultivate a non-anxious relationship between the people and the church.
  2. We are committed to intimate fellowship as family.
  3. We are a church with a big heart, and seek flexibility in non-essential matters.
  4. We are a discerning community rather than one that relies only on rules, regulations and formulas, even if that makes us look odd, eccentric or inconsistent.
  5. We seek to be vessels of God’s illumination by embracing unconventional approaches.
  6. We are comfortable with paradox as a central way by which Jesus taught.
  7. We are prophetic and critical, and not attached to any ideology.
  8. Our critical faith does not, however, lead us to cynical detachment, but to passionate engagement with God and with one another in fresh ways.
  9. We are not afraid to grow and change theologically, for all theology is provisional.
  10. We are not afraid of personalized authority, but are continuously disclosing, discussing, and renegotiating the nature of that authority.

Children’s Ministry Values

  1. To teach the way of God and to help our children follow in the way of Jesus, that they may have life and have it abundantly.
  2. To teach that God created the vast universe, that each child is made in God’s beautiful image, and that from stardust we came and to stardust we return.
  3. To teach that they have inherent dignity and are beloved just as they are.
  4. To teach that God made a world of diversity and splendor, and thus we embrace all that makes us unique as we give glory to our Creator.
  5. To pass on stories to our children of how our faith community came to be and why we persist in our mission, that they may know their place in this unfolding story.
  6. To create a safe and loving environment in which our children learn to participate responsibly in loving community, and to lead them out of the alienating individualism of the broader society.
  7. To recognize each child’s unique capacity and path to emotional regulation.
  8. To validate the children’s foundational emotions, then guide their journey toward appropriate emotional development and resilience.
  9. That children can connect to their own intrinsic motivation to live into their God-given potential when adult leaders attune to their spirit and energy.
  10. That God created the natural universe, that human beings are an integral part of nature, and that shepherding our children towards nature and the natural facilitates their path to healing, growth and maturity.

Our Approach to Justice

  1. We confess the Church’s complicity in much of current and historic injustice. We do not detach ourselves from the past, but in grace and humility take responsibility for it.
  2. We confess our sin both individually and collectively, including structural and systemic injustice, for unless we take collective responsibility, the ministry of reconciliation simply cannot be advanced.
  3. Our confessing does not lead to paralyzed guilt but to the liberty to act in love.
  4. We believe that social justice starts in the church, and that the way we treat each other directly affects the credibility of our witness before the world.
  5. We seek to practice radical hospitality, inviting those different than ourselves into the very heart of our life together, knowing that this may very well change us.
  6. Since God calls the church to advocate for the oppressed without prejudice – the widows, orphans and aliens in our midst – we will care for our neighbors regardless of their religious affiliation or particular background.
  7. We believe that like the prophets of the Old and New Testaments, we are called to proclaim God’s love and justice beyond the walls of the church, to call to account the powers and principalities and rulers of our age.
  8. Our loyalty is not to any political party or ideology, but to Christ our only Lord whom we follow by the power of his Spirit.
  9. We are mindful not to engage in social justice with a “savior-complex,” nor be anxious that we as one congregation cannot address all problems, since Jesus alone is Savior. We will prayerfully discern how to contribute collaboratively to God’s work throughout the world.
  10. We seek a better way beyond perfectionism and impulsiveness in the way we address urgent matters of justice.