OUR CORE VALUES
When you join as a member of our community, these are the core values we live in our daily lives together
GOD THE CREATOR
God is the modern colloquial name for the One who created all things. This Divine Being created the universe and all things within it, often referred to in Christian tradition as the Father. This creator is One Divine Being existing in three persons - The Creator, the Son, and the Spirit. The Creator set about to be in relationship with creation just as this Divine Being lives in perfect love in eternity outside time within the Three Persons.
JESUS CHRIST
We embrace our faith in the way of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, who rejected oppressive, colonial and imperial powers; who denied ecclesial orders that perpetuate oppression; whose heart was for those who lived in powerlessness or poverty; and who called His followers to a life of self-sacrifice, non-violence, and love of God and all of God's people; who lived for us, died for us, and rose for us in the perfect demonstration of love.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Divine Being puts Their plan into action through the power and gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit sends grace to believe, grace to love, grace to grow in holiness and justice, and power to live like Jesus Christ. This Spirit abides in us, works through us, and empowers us for love in the world.
BELIEF SYSTEM
We embrace the early, historic doctrines of the primitive Church as reiterated in the ancient Apostles’ Creed, the United Methodist Book of Discipline, and as rooted in the holy Scriptures.
COMMON UNITY
We embrace the vision and mission of God, which is to reconcile all of creation back to God. Unity is one of the key values of God, and a characteristic perfectly embodied in the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because of this, we embrace intentionality in unity and avoid neglecting the pursuit of a common mind in Christ.
MEANS OF GRACE
We embrace the means of grace. We feel God working most when we come together, whether to share in the Lord’s Supper, baptism, prayer, worship, giving or other Christian community practices. We want to do these things as often as we gather in the spirit of primitive Methodism.
INNOVATION ROOTED IN HISTORY
We embrace the primitive Methodist practice of decentering church from Sunday worship. We look to recreate and renew the societies, classes and bands of primitive Methodism into expressions that work for contemporary families.
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We embrace the inspiration of the holy Scriptures. We believe that they are inspired only in the context of their entirety, and as interpreted by the Christian community. We acknowledge that even if every single letter or word of our contemporary Bibles were perfect, human beings still would not be able to perfectly interpret the Bible. Because of this, we interpret scripture by the power of the Holy Spirit, with humility, erring on the side of grace and love. We follow an exhortation of John Wesley, when interpreting the holy Scriptures to: do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.
MARGINLIZED PEOPLES
We embrace the exploration of newer understandings of the holy Scriptures that consider the perspectives of the oppressed and marginalized. In our time and context this includes the LGBTQIA community, the disabled community, the immigrant community, and those experiencing mental illness, homelessness, colonial and postcolonial experience, and racism.
AMERICA'S ORIGINAL SIN
We embrace the concept that all of those residing in the United States suffer from generational trauma born out of systemic racism, nativism, white supremacy, and ethnocentrism. Slavery, genocide, and ongoing discrimination and systemic issues have resulted from these beliefs. We recognize the effects of this are ever present in our context, and we seek to mourn, repent, reconcile, and seek positive ways to move beyond these sins.