Our Commonly Held Beliefs

Commonly Held Beliefs

Chief among the spiritual and community concepts that we strongly support are those listed below. Do these beliefs resonate with you? We value curiosity and dialogue, so even if you disagree with any of them, you are invited into loving conversation with us. Your presence is celebrated in our faith community, and your input is welcome!

God is love

• God is patient; God is kind; God is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. God does not insist on God’s own way; God is not irritable or resentful; God does not rejoice in wrongdoing but instead rejoices in the truth. God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 John 4:7-16 and 1st Corinthians 13)

• We believe that God wants us all to become self-actualized to be the best we were created to be.

Jesus

• Jesus is the great physician who did not convert others; neither do we. We share our faith and invite others to church as an outflow of love and as an expression of who we are. We do not condemn people or other expressions of loving worship.

• As Jesus celebrated all people, so do we. 

Holy Spirit

• The Holy Spirit serves as our Comforter, our Guide, and our Advocate.

Bible

• The Bible is a God-inspired library of books offering different human perspectives on how God interacts with the world and brings salvation to each of us.

Salvation

• We are saved not because we have faith in Jesus Christ, but because Jesus Christ has faith in us.

• Being saved is a journey, not an event.

Mystery

• Your doubts and questions are celebrated here.

• We do not impose “answers” on anyone.

Humanity

• We believe in Original Blessing, that God created all humans and called them very good (Genesis 1). Furthermore, “God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean” (Acts 10:28).

• Being human is messy; we embrace the mess.

• We are a faith community committed to the health of the whole person (body, mind, and soul) by acknowledging each other’s vulnerability and by caring for each other.

Faith Formation

• Our faith and beliefs are founded upon and revealed in Scripture, illuminated by our traditions, made alive through our personal experiences, and confirmed by our reason. 

Church

• We are a relational church. We are a family in relationship with each other. We don’t have to agree in order to worship together, to eat dinner together, and to love one another.

• To participate in our church, you are not required to conform to or adhere to a set of doctrinal beliefs. Your freedom of thought is welcomed here.

• Our community and leadership opportunities are open to women, men, and non-binary people; those of different sexual orientations and genders; people with differing beliefs; those of different races, ethnicities, and ages; and conservatives, liberals, independents, and libertarians.

Community Health and Behavior

• To respect and care for each other, we strive to create a healthy environment, working to protect against destructive behavior while operating with loving kindness. Destructive behaviors such as bullying, harassment (sexual or otherwise), prejudicial discrimination, authoritarianism, abuse, and double standards should not be tolerated.

• We encourage those who experience or witness such behavior or any behavior inconsistent with our guiding principles and values to not remain silent but to address it in accordance with our guidelines.