We’re continuing to post on the vision and values of our church plant.
So far: 1. “Why?” – 2. Our mission – 3. Skeptics and Dreamers – 4. Missionary communities – 5. Journey, Honesty, Community – 6. Participation, Oikos, Simplicity, Wonder
Today, four final values: Creativity, Roots, Justice, and Truth
CREATIVITY
We value creativity, not as a clever way to draw attention to ourselves, but as a natural expression of being created in the image of a creative God. Experiences of beauty always point to the One who is Ultimate Beauty, and oftentimes penetrate our hearts in a way nothing else can. We desire to express God-given creativity in order to point people toward Christ and the kingdom of God in a meaningful, compelling way.
ROOTS
Even as we seek to innovate in creative ways, we also value being grounded in a tradition larger than ourselves that unites us with Christians across time and space. We value the traditions of the gospel handed down to us (the Creeds, time-honored prayers, etc.), and seek to impart them to those who come after us. For example, we plan to observe the Christian year (Advent to Pentecost), which traces the life of Christ and re-tells the gospel story every year.
JUSTICE / MERCY
Because God sent Jesus not to be served but to serve, we seek to follow Jesus in serving others in compassion. Being a follower of Jesus is a journey of downward mobility, where we seek to show practical mercy to the hurting and needy all around us. We also want to be people of justice, those who will participate in the hard, often tedious work of seeking out truth and rightness in relationships and systems that do not reflect love and compassion of God. Rather than simply lobbying government officials to change policies, though, we believe justice is a foremost a local, relational reality and we seek to “do justice” at this grassroots level before extending it to larger spheres.
TRUTH / GROWTH
We recognize that in community God speaks truth to us in many ways, whether it is through a sermon, a Scripture reading, a comment from a friend. These “words from God” call us into a way of being that we aren’t walking in yet, and we value the constant change, repentance and transformation that happens as we submit to God’s truth spoken among us.
Next post – Three-Dimensional Church
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