VISION
Jesus-Centered
Following Jesus.
Before Christianity is a religion or a way of life, it is first an announcement: Jesus has paid for our sin by dying on a cross, and set us free from our sin by rising from the grave. Through this good news, God now offers us life and right relationship with Him.
Everything we do as a church is motivated by and centered around the good news of Jesus. Our Gatherings, our Community Groups, our events, our relationships–everything begins and ends with the gospel.
In all things, we are seeking to know and follow Jesus.
Family
Cultivating Community.
Through Jesus, we not only have right relationship with God, but we also have right relationship with each other.
When God becomes our Father, we also get a lot of new brothers and sisters. In all of our relationships, we seek to interact with one another as family. We care for one another, hurt with one another, celebrate with one another, and sacrifice for one another.
Through the gospel, God has made us a family.
In other words, we seek to know and follow Jesus together.
On Mission
Living on Mission.
The Church has been given the task of inviting more and more people into God’s family. Through building relationships with people in our world, we seek to show the truthfulness of the gospel in word and deed.
Our hope is that people would see the way that we love one another as church family and be drawn to the message of the gospel as a result. In every way we can, we hope to represent Jesus in how we do life together.
As we seek to know and follow Jesus together, we invite others to do the same.
VALUES
Practice
We are doers of the word, not just hearers.
Too often, theological knowledge serves as a substitute for spiritual maturity. We think that the more we know about God, the more mature we are or will be. While theological knowledge and doctrinal learning are not bad things, it is over simplistic and comes with dangers.
We can begin to think that following Jesus is only a set of doctrinal affirmations or ideas - and not a lived reality that gets into our very being and ways.
In contrast to this, we seek to be a people of practice. We don’t simply talk about Jesus, but we seek to walk with Jesus. We seek to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.
PATIENCE
We are in it for the long-haul, not a flash in the pan.
Our American culture of speed and hustle have left many frustrated and disillusioned with their own progress in life with God. We think if we aren’t fixed or changed or helped now, that God is absent. But God works at the speed of intentional pace.
Over against programs, speed, and hurry, patient rhythms are consistent patterns of behavior that are sustained over long periods of time. In the context of Christian faith, they are the sustainable habits of body, mind, and soul that bring a person into contact with God. They are not evaluated by or aimed at specific outcomes; rather, they are fueled by an understanding that we are formed as we commit to live ordered and holistic lives, with others and before God.
Presence
We are committed to being present to God and to each other as whole beings.
Our world is increasingly dominated by digital devices, spaces, and networks. We are overwhelmed with information, activities, and entertainment. We are pulled in a million directions, constantly seeking to ignore or transcend the limits of our bodies and minds.
Yet, God created us to be beautifully and irreducibly physical, embodied, and communal. We are embodied and emplaced people who will thrive only as we embrace these God-given limits. We want to "do church" in a way that honors this reality and requires physical presence with one another over the long-haul. We desire to be a community of unhurried physical presence, living within our particular bodies, places, and stories.
POWER
We are desperate for the Holy Spirit to move in and through us.
We do not worship, serve, or follow Jesus under our own strength. Jesus tells His disciples in John 15 – “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” We reject the narrative of self-sufficiency and 7-steps to church growth, and instead are seeking what can only be explained as a move of God.
The Holy Spirit is active and working in each of us as individuals, and in our larger faith community. Trusting that reality, we long for, look for, and anticipate His work in, among, and through us.
PARTNERS
We partner globally, nationally, and locally with like-minded churches to help advance the gospel of Jesus Christ through church planting. We do this primarily through various church planting networks.
