Christ Centered—we value Christ and the gospel and believe that the gospel changes everything. From the start of our Christian life to the finish, the gospel changes us from the inside out, causing us to grow in grace and reject religious moralism and all forms of idolatry (Rom 1:16-17; Col 1:6; 2 Pet 1:9; 3:18; 1 John 5:21). As part of that commitment to Christ and the gospel we value reconciliation and the restoration of the relationship between God and humankind and between people and other people. We affirm that the whole history of redemption, climaxing in the death and resurrection of Jesus, is God’s strategy to bring about a just and lasting reconciliation between people and himself and between people and other people (Ephesians 2:14-22). We are committed to spiritual, racial, age, gender, and socioeconomic reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Formation Focused—we value wholistic health and cherish being formed into the image of Christ in all aspects of life—spiritual, emotional, intellectual, relational, and physical—that Christ may be increasingly noticeable in us (Gal 4:19; Col 1:27; 1 Thes 5:23). We see formation flowing naturally out of a commitment to the gospel. We believe that godly followers of Christ will most effectively walk out their faith as they embrace the reality of their brokenness, grief, loss, and personal limitations, while being honest about what is real in their lives, in the lives of their families, and in the lives of the Christian faith communities in which they worship and serve (Matt 5:3-12; Eph 4:15). We also believe these things to be the fruit of the gospel’s work in our lives (2 Pet 1:4-9). We are committed to practicing the disciplines of fasting, contemplation, silence, and solitude that allow us to give attention to God. As a result of this intimacy with the living, risen Christ, we will seek to hear what the Spirit is saying to our team and to the Church, and address the issues that arise within the churches God gives us the opportunity to serve (Rev 2:7).
Missional Ministry—we value missional ministry, which involves a commitment to actively engage our culture with the gospel message. In fact, the gospel compels us to be missional. We believe that becoming missional, that is, being a called and sent people, will flow naturally from our intimacy with God, because what we cherish and value we will joyously commend to others (Ps 67:1-3; 1 Chron 16:8)! Our commitment to being missional is also a commitment to living out God’s future kingdom in the present and will result in showing hospitality and making disciples (Mark 1:15). We view the church as a called out and sent, disciple-making community of faith as it is revealed in the word of God.
Teamwork—we value collaborative teams and teamwork where each team member submits to the counsel of other team members (Rom 16:21f; Phil 3:17). We value accountability, innovation, and working together in a community of believers who, while being fully present, listen to one another. We are committed to practicing the “one another” commands, and journeying together in our relationship with Christ. We believe humility, teachability, and submission to God and one another to be baseline character qualities for those who would serve on this team (Phil 2:3-8). We believe that this is the practical outworking of Trinitarian theology, and we seek to model and encourage it in the churches we serve.