Our Culture

/ DEFINING COMMITMENTS 

  • Our animating center is Life in Christ.

  • We abide in Christ primarily through Word, Spirit, and Sacrament. 

  • The Great Tradition (historic Christian orthodoxy) is our best way of understanding the Bible.

  • The Anglican Way is how we walk out our orthodoxy.

/ CORE VALUES

  • Union with Christ: The Christian life is a life of union with Christ. His life in us is the animating center of our life together (Jn 15:4-5). 

  • Simplicity: We lean into the simple, ancient rhythms of the Church gathered around God’s word and sacrament (Acts 2:42). We are not trying to be novel; we are trying to live ordinary life in Christ together: A life of worship, formation, community, and mission.

  • Liturgical and Lively: We seek to wed the liturgical riches of our Anglican heritage with a warm vibrancy of faith resulting in worship that is rooted and joyful, reverent and expressive, beautiful and lively (Jn 4:24).

  • The Gospel that Heals: The gospel of Jesus forms us into a reconciled and reconciling community (2 Cor 5:18), bringing brothers and sisters in Christ from various ethnic, religious, political, and socioeconomic backgrounds into one family of God.

  • Feasting and the Table: We emphasize communing at Christ’s table where we experience so much of what we value: hospitality, nourishment, grace, rest, and delight in the gifts of God (Jn 6:35-51). We are sent from His table to feast at friend’s tables and serve at neighborhood “tables” (anywhere we can love and bless our neighbors).

  • Children: We delight in the presence of children in our midst. Children and youth are not the future of the church, they are the church (Mt 19:14). We are committed to being a safe, caring, and formative church for kids and their families. 

  • Loving the Poor: Following Christ’s example and teaching, we look for ways (both organic and programmatic) to lovingly engage with the spiritually and economically poor and marginalized (Lk 4:18-21).

  • Kingdom > Country > Party: The American church needs a renewed paradigm for political discipleship wherein we turn our eyes from the donkey or the elephant and look to the lamb (Credit: Pastor Ken Robertson, IAC, Colorado Springs for this paradigm).

  • Success is Maturing in Christ: Our primary goal is not growth in attendance or giving, rather it is growth in Christlikeness. Though this is hard to measure, the key indicator is that individuals + our church staff and culture demonstrate a long-term trend towards more fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Col 1:28, Gal 5:22-23a).