Seeking

We believe that real life is more than simply knowing the right answers; we’re hungry for meaning, understanding, and connection. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, sent from God to proclaim a pathway toward meaning, purpose, and new life, and often by challenging conventional wisdom. In this way He invites people to pursue Him.

We know that following Jesus does not remove uncertainty or difficulty from our lives, in fact, the opposite is often true! Instead, we organize our lives around the teachings and work of Christ as revealed in Scripture, finding hope, meaning, and truth within the struggles and uncertainties.

We welcome people at any place on their spiritual journey to join us as we use our time together to “wrestle” the truth claims of Jesus Christ. Questions always welcome, easy answers not guaranteed!

Connecting

Relationships matter to us. The Bible is actually a collection of stories for and about communities of faith. We believe that communities are part of God’s plan to share His love, His character, and His vision to humankind. These communities are drawn together by a certain kind of love and governed by a certain kind of relationship.

We devote time and energy to building relationships with each other that go below the surface, challenging us to mature. Church, as we see it, is about a group of ordinary people working, loving, struggling, teaching, learning, laughing, forgiving, and discovering together as they live out the story of God. Church isn’t an event or a mere gathering for us. It’s a social and spiritual space where people connect with one another and with God as faith comes to life.

We also order our lives to connect with God. We practice spiritual disciplines like prayer, scripture reading, journaling, contemplating, worshiping and serving because they offer us an opportunity to experience God’s presence. We don’t think these practices make us better, holier people, but they do make us more aware of who God is and of what He is calling us to do.

Transforming

We see God at work everywhere. His vision to restore, heal, and complete everything He has created is about new life, new possibilities, and new values. In God’s vision, the Church exists to be a billboard on the journey toward new life – pointing us toward the final destination that God will one day bring all of creation. We see the Christian life as a process of growing into a new outlook on everything, having a new attitude in each situation as well as a new way of relating to everyone. At the same time, we recognize this transformation is something only God does and we are humbled to be invited to participate. The process, however, is more than just an individual or personal affair. We believe that God is actively transforming families, communities, societies, and cultures. And we believe that by design, there is a positive net impact on the community, society, and culture in which a truly faithful church exists.

Transparency

We strive to be a community of transparent living. Rather than pretending that our Christian faith magically fixes us we openly acknowledge our struggles and difficulties. Together we are learning how to speak the truth to each other in love and gentleness, and to hear the truth about ourselves without fear. Much of the Christian life can be described in terms of moving from darkness into light. We have found that unhealthy fears, self-defeating habits, and destructive desires maintain their powerful grip on us only while they remain hidden. But as we move out of the darkness and into the light we will experience freedom and healing, as well as deeper relationships with friends who walk through life’s difficulties with us. 

Giving/Serving

We want to learn how to live as generous people. We believe that our physical, spiritual, emotional, and material resources ultimately come from and belong to God. We feel called to use them in a way that embodies God’s character and His vision. We give of our personal finances, our time, and our energy to serve one another as well as our communities. At the same time, we resist a tendency in ourselves to serve others simply because it makes us feel self-important or self-righteous. We believe that sacrificial, servant-living is bounded by two equally strong motives; radical generosity and quiet humility. 

Celebrating

Life is a sacred gift to us. Celebrations, laughter, and children provide opportunities for us to see, hear, and experience life the way God intended it to be. And so, we look for opportunities to celebrate! In our gatherings worship is a natural response to the evidence of God’s goodness and His work in our lives, our families, and our communities. Celebration is more than a style of music or a special event – our celebration is a daily response of humility, gratitude, and awe as we recognize that God is at work in many places throughout our lives. We celebrate the victories of all who work for peace, healing, restoration, reconciliation, and justice.

Creating

We see amazing beauty in the world around us, celebrating human creativity as one of God’s greatest gifts. We value and encourage artistic expression and aesthetic beauty. Like artistic expression, innovation also mirrors God’s creative nature. We expect to change and we plan on it by cultivating both flexibility, and creativity. We are uncomfortable limiting God with programs and strategies that are justified only by their past effectiveness. We are more interested in what God is doing now and what He will do in the future.

Listening/Learning

We are interested in knowing, learning, and experiencing God. We are hungry to discover and understand how and where God is moving and want to put ourselves in that place. In the mean time, most of what we do is an experiment. We also believe that we are privileged to share with people who hold different value systems and religious beliefs. We approach conversations with our neighbors as gifts, an opportunity to grow in our own faith journey as we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.