1. Full and uncompromising teaching of the Scriptures is the catalyst of life change.
We teach the Bible without fear, without compromise, and without watering it down. We believe the Bible catalyzes faith, inspires change, and leads us to a real encounter with God.
2. Prayer and the power of an actual encounter with the Holy Spirit is the agent of life change.
We believe that God can actually be encountered, and that when He is, we will be changed. Change does not come from our own willpower or effort, but rather by the scandalously gracious work of the Holy Spirit living within us who believe.
3. Building a biblically faithful yet theologically diverse culture is our goal.
Whoever believes in the Bible without compromise belongs in our church. From Catholic to Charismatic, from Presbyterian to Baptist, from Pentecostal to Wesleyan, no matter the background or the nuances of theology, we gather in unity to love God and His Word.
4. Communicating the Gospel with a raw edge of honesty is essential to address the real life issues people face.
Life is messy. Church should not hide from that, but rather walk right into the authentic mess of each other’s stories. Honesty and vulnerability is the pathway to being influencers of real change in each other's lives.
5. Christ-followers are to be contributors rather than consumers of church life.
The church does not exist to meet our needs. We are the church, and we exist to meet the needs of others.
6. We practice scandalous grace and the patient trust of God’s healing process in every one of our broken and sinful lives.
No story is so dark, no story is too large for God to heal. And no story should be too large for us to love. God practices such an unmerited grace towards us that we must also give abundant grace—without reserve—to those who need it….which is really every one of us.
7. Our church must be a place of safe, accepting, and confessional relationships.
Life change cannot come when we hide who we really are. When we do relationship, we need to make it safe for every person to be real, to be honest, and to share the real stuff that is going on.
8. Excellence in everything we do is an act of worship to God.
Church should not be about “performance”, where we make everything flawless to impress each other. But we should do the absolute best with whatever we have to honor God, and make the best use of the talents He has given us.
9. There will be no silos within our church based on age, life stage, or generation.
Every generation matters. We will prioritize younger generations, calling those who are older to invest in the lives of those who are younger. Every life stage belongs in relationship to others, so we will not “silo off” any group from the fuller community.
10. We will do weekend worship services to be a catalyst for life change, and gather in small groups to experience real life change.
Every church does a Sunday service. We know that ours can only begin the process of life change. Real change comes when we gather into smaller groups of friends to go deep into experiencing God.