Our congregation was initially formed and continues to be shaped by Four Core Values.
Servant Leadership.
Over and against hierarchical structures and systems of promotion and prestige, the baptismal waters in which we are claimed and adopted as the children of God place everyone on the same level. Regardless of age, education or experience, everyone is a leader. Regardless of status, title or rank everyone is a servant after the pattern of Christ “who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Voluntary Simplicity.
Simple things are holy, and in an increasingly complex world which encourages ramped up lifestyles and increased consumerism, we find compelling the invitation to “consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field,” to focus on relationships, to create margin, and to seek first the Kingdom of God.
The Integretion of the Sacred and the Secular.
We believe that all things (with the exception of the obviously profane things) are holy, and that God is at work in this world redeeming all that is broken. God cares about and inhabits all aspects of our lives, all parts of the world, and therefore moves toward, rather than being repelled by sin, in order to make it whole and holy. Against our tendencies to compartmentalize our lives, God seeks to re-integrate us for whole-life discipleship.
Acculturation.
An unusual word which simply means that we believe that God is present and at work in every person, and that everyone already, but sometimes unwittingly, possesses a deep hunger for God. That hunger is oftentimes characterized by misplaced appetites, when we seek God in god-less ways. Acculturation is a gentle means of evangelism which re-directs people’s hunger to the living God made known to us in Jesus Christ.