Mission and Values of our New Church

A missional community devoted to the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ,
growing in Faith,
sharing the Hope,
serving in Love;
one another, Capitol Hill, and to the ends of the earth.

Devoted to common values…
They devoted themselves to… - Acts 2:42

The verb that is most important as we consider our values is devoted. No matter what we put down on the list of things we hold as central, they do not just happen, and neither is Sunday morning the primary place they happen – they are 24-7. And we are not there, yet. Jesus Christ came to sacrifice and in doing so gave life. We have come to do the same, sacrificing ourselves on behalf of each other, our neighborhood, our city and our world believing that this brings life today, tomorrow and forever.

Community – devoted to each other.
We welcome believers and non-believers alike to "do life together” as part of a diverse community that is about knowing and being known, loving and being loved, celebrating and being celebrated, and serving and being served. We believe that vibrant community doesn’t happen without sacrifice.

Authenticity, acceptance and truth-telling are core to our community, where people can become whole. There is no need to pretend we are better or worse than we really are, but as we accept each other and speak the truth in love to one another, we can help each other grow into whole people.

We also believe that our community extends beyond our known boundaries and that as we seek these things for those in our midst we also seek the same for those that live on those unfamiliar streets.

Acts 2:42, 46 – They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… everyday they continued to meet together… they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God…

1 Peter 4:8-10 – Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Worship – devoted to God, responding with beauty and gratitude.
What we call worship is a 24-7 deal. We believe that worship is a response of gratitude to God with our entire lives, with our full selves in time and gifts – that is why it is more than music or Sunday morning. We seek to offer our lives in a worship that is an authentic and creative expression of our community all week long, wherever we are. The creative arts are given as gifts for the community and come with responsibilities just as leadership comes with responsibilities. God desires to be known through the arts and our community would be incomplete without artistic expression.

Colossians 3:17 – Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Romans 12:1 – In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship.

Ephesians 2:10 – For you are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He has prepared in advance for you to walk in.

Matthew 22:37-39 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Service – devoted to serving in humility and love.
St. Francis said, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words when necessary.” We value the whole gospel – proclamation in word and deed, in truth and love. We welcome the stranger knowing that Jesus has welcomed us, we serve knowing that we ourselves have need of service, we seek justice for others as we would desire to be defended, we love because we know ourselves beloved, we walk in humility because service offered any other way is not the way of Jesus. With the sacrifice of time, of our own self-promoting goals, or our own prejudice we seek to do as Christ commands and love our neighbor as ourselves. We are called to be stewards of all the gifts we have been given. We have been blessed in order to be a blessing to others.

Mark 10:45 – For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

John 20:21 – As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

Philippians 2:4 – In humility consider others better than yourselves. Look to the interests of others as well as your own.

Transformation – devoted to growing and going in truth and grace.
This is one of the most powerful things we are witnessing in the life of our church – being led by the Holy Spirit in prayer, worship and leadership – being gathered in, healed, transformed and equipped as we listen and follow. This life is founded in the authority of scripture, and is a work of the Holy Spirit to whom we continually submit in prayer, and who empowers us to live in a new way.

This is what we call being Jesus-followers – growing individually and in community, being equipped as disciples of Jesus and not keeping it to ourselves. We always come as we are, but we don’t stay that way.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 – Now the Lord is Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with every-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is Spirit.

2 Timothy 2:2 – And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

Ephesians 4:12-13 - …to equip God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of God.

Acts 1:8 – you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Personal participation – devoted to being fully engaged.
The spiritual life is not a spectator sport! We encourage a community that is actively participating in and owning the ministry of the Kingdom; where everyone knows themselves to be a minister of God to one another, with the fullness of the life, energy and light of Jesus overflowing to the hungry, thirsty people around us.

1 Peter 4:10 - Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Matthew 5:13-16 – You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden… In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Colossians 1:9-10 – we continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may (do it!) live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work…

John 15:16 – You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last…

Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Sharing – devoted to being relevant.
We believe that the story of Christ holds the power of salvation for anyone, anywhere, anytime. We are devoted to meeting people where they are, sharing Christ in a way that can be understood and teaching in a way that people know how to connect “ancient words” to the here and now in their daily lives.

We value engaging with all aspects of our lives – spirituality, politics, justice issues, environment, music, literature, etc. – using various avenues & media to address questions that people are asking in a language that can be understood. We believe in engaging the whole person and the whole earth.

1 Corinthians 9:22 – I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means some might be saved.

Acts 17:22-23 – Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious! For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found this inscription: To An Unknown God. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship – and that is what I am going to proclaim to you.”