WHO WE ARE

“On him we have set our hope.” - 2 Corinthians 1:10
Everything we believe comes from, and is fulfilled in, Jesus Christ. We long to believe and behave in ways that are true to God’s heart. We hope to become a family that is bringing generations together! We want to inspire the very best out of every human being who, by creation, reflects the image of God. Together, frail, fractured and favored as we are, we are writing a story of faith, hope and love. Because of Jesus, we know, “the greatest of these is love”
(1 Corinthians 13:13).

OUR MISSION

LOVING GOD: it means more than “believing He exists,” but longing to know Him personally, intimately and relationally! Loving means adoring and emulating the amazing God as our desired character destination.

SERVING OTHERS: To be a servant is to be deployable in spirit, representative in character, open in assignments and winsome in presence! Serving means wanting to be Jesus to others as we see Jesus in others!

CHANGING THE WORLD: Joining God in making everything new means empowering people into every form of Heaven’s Shalom (the Peace of God that brings health and well-being of one’s entire existence in body, soul, mind and spirt).

OUR VISION

LOVING: To be “loving” as Jesus spoke is to be deferential (helping others first), to be sacrificial (giving over to bless others), and affirmational (validating the dignity and humanity of every human life).

LIFE-GIVING FAMILY: People who are life-giving give life away to others! They bless, benefit, build up and encourage people on their walk through life. We want to be this life-giving family!

HEALING COMMUNITY: To be a healing community is to bring heaven’s wellness into earth’s illness. Helping people step into “The life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19) is what a healing family does.

CHRIST-CENTERED CONGREGATION: Our power, unity and capacity to live Christ-centered lives is deeply rooted in Jesus being our Lord and Savior. When we yield our lives to Jesus, and submit to his word and will; when we entrust our future into his provision and protection; when we re-orient our purpose for living, and our penchant for pleasure, around His fulfilling and liberating grace, everything changes.

OUR FIVE CORE VALUES

RADICAL HOSPITALITY: Hospitality is the firm foundation of sharing God’s unconditional love, grace and mercy with this world. A hospitality that is “radical” is one that proactively reaches out, not passively sits and waits to respond. Jesus sought out the fringe and fractured edges of society, welcoming conversations and encounters with people who were considered taboo in his day. He was excited to show love to many unlovable people who had huge conduct, character or credibility issues in the eyes of culture, which is what we strive to do also.

PASSIONATE WORSHIP: Worship that is “passionate” describes encounters that are by design, on-purpose and long-anticipated. Jesus told us, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). In worship – where we yield, open, and offer our lives and honor to God – God transform us, heals our wounded souls, and renews our hope.

INTENTIONAL SPIRITUAL GROWTH: Intentional means planned, calendared, committed, desired and envisioned! Our target as disciples is to do everything we can to engage our bodies, souls, minds and spirits to become fully conformed to the character and conduct of Jesus Christ. Developing our faith means investing our lives in the habits and disciplines that shape our lives for heaven’s glory: feasting on God’s word, breathing prayer constantly, giving generously, serving regularly, forgiving graciously, and giving thanks continually!

COURAGEOUS MISSION AND SERVICE: To be on mission and serving is to operate from the heart of the Father’s love for all. While mission and service can come in the skin of projects, programs, initiatives and relationships, everything is done for the joy of Knowing, loving and serving God. To be “courageous” in this life of servanthood ministry is to take risks outside of our comfort zones. God is wanting to stretch us into loving connections with other people we may not know or be like and to encounter needs we may ourselves be unfamiliar with.

EXTRAVAGANT GENEROSITY: Perhaps more than any other character attribute, the practice of Extravagant Generosity showcases the heart of the Father who is all about giving His highest and best for us. To be generous is to be selfless. To be generous is to be moved and motivated to enjoy adding value to other people’s lives. Generosity, in a Christian stewardship context, is all about the desire and deep satisfaction that comes from investing our lives in the things of God. Deploying our time, talents, treasures and testimonies for the Lord’s purposes is the will of the Father, and doing those things with a great sense of excited joy, partnership, and fulfilling adventure is to show “Extravagant Generosity”.

OUR BIBLE VERSE

“ACT JUSTLY, LOVE MERCY, AND WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD” (from Micah 6:8)  

ACT JUSTLY: Our life conduct matters. It especially matters when it comes to the force and impact of our actions. God has called us to be agents of justice for all people. This means we live with an eye to defending the weak, poor, oppressed and overlooked.

LOVE MERCY: As God generously and unconditionally forgives us, so too are we called to pick up this mantle of blessing and extend heaven’s forgiving favor to all the world.

WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD: Our life of attitudinal perspective matters. It especially matters when it comes to the force and impact of our identity and sense of self. What we believe about ourselves influences how we act and relate to others.

ETHNOS: We stand against Racism!

As followers of Jesus, we aspire to biblical reconciliation among all the peoples of this world. We recognize racism as an historic, systemic, pervasive injustice to humanity and an egregious offense to the heart of God who names us all His children. We realize we have been complacent, complicit, and content in our own “majority culture” story while others have languished in harm and hate sustained by many blind spots. Because of these truths, we resolve to own and act on our Christian responsibility to dismantle racism and work to reverse the long-standing injustices that have held our siblings in bondage to white supremacy.
 
ETHNOS (nation, race, people, tribe, caste) is our initiating effort to cultivate learnings, encounters, understandings, and experiences that will inform and influence our congregation so that we can impact our community and world with the healing and reconciling love of Jesus Christ. Our team is committed to these three approaches:

Awareness, Relationship, Commitment

We believe that the essence
of our identity as Christ-followers
is in the Lord Jesus alone and so we shall
love our neighbors as we love God and ourselves.


Our three goals for our congregation are:
FIGHTING HATE
TEACHING LOVE
SEEKING JUSTICE

OUR DENOMINATION

We are a part of the United Methodist Church in connection with the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference (area) and the Western Jurisdiction (region).