BELIEFS
Practices
How do we join God’s work around us and learn to be a people of renewal in the everyday? The best way is through practices. The modern Church is full of programs, many of which are great, but they’ve at times replaced practices that should define our lives outside of formal gathering spaces. Practices are the things we do that evoke a kingdom imagination, embed us in place, and help us locate and join the work of God around us.
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Gathering is the practice of coming together around Jesus’ table. We do this on Sunday, as we surround the large wooden tables in our auditorium. But we also practice gathering when our friends and house churches gather for dinner or treats in order to listen, pray, proclaim and practice Jesus’ story. And we should also gather in the world: coming around tables in our homes and in others in order to practice the way of Jesus with our neighbors, co-workers, and friends.
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Welcoming is the practice of receiving into our homes and lives the “other.” Welcoming is an extension of gathering wherein we open hearts, in vulnerability, to one another. Welcoming is a disruptive practice. People who are welcoming insert themselves into fear, contempt, and dissonance, providing spaces of peace and hospitality. Instead of elevating hostility, the practice of welcoming disrupts the tide of anger with grace.
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If God is really at work around us then we need to learn how to pay attention. We need to learn how to look and listen. We call this the practice of exploring and it includes the work of listening to God, self, and others. It’s a practice of curiously learning, paying attention, and expecting to be surprised by what God is doing in us and others.
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Humans are created in the imago dei, which is not simply a state of being, but a vocation. Being an image-bearer is a calling to create and cultivate in ways that resemble God and benefit others. We participate in making real Jesus’s kingdom when our everyday actions are inspired by a kingdom's imagination. When we create families, art, ministries, and safe workplaces that reflect Jesus and his kingdom, we are joining with God in extending the kingdom on earth.
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The practice of inviting is about generosity. It’s what we give to the people around us. An inviting community is made up of people who come together and share what they have, pointing each other to Jesus. In this sense, you could say that each of the practices we’ve talked about has an invitational element because they all push us to envision more.
Jesus is the center.
We believe Jesus is the center of everything and that our focus on him is the most defining thing about our community. Read our core faith expressions:
Apostles Creed
THIS ANCIENT CREED SETS FORTH THE FUNDAMENTAL TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE IN BEAUTIFUL SIMPLICITY.
We believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into death. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.