No list can capture the heart of our church, but here are a few things we value (in alphabetical order):
Always Welcoming
St. Benedict wrote, “Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ, because He will say: ‘I was a stranger and you took Me in’” (Mt 25:35). We welcome people from all walks of life, those from diverse cultures and gifts, young and old, and with disabilities of many kinds.
CHILDREN & YOUTH INCLUDED
We take children’s spiritual lives seriously. Young people are not just “the church of the future” but “the church of now.” They experience God and pray and take in the Word of God. Though our children and youth have special times on their own, they participate fully at Savior—as musicians, acolytes, dancers, Bible dramatists, worshipers, missionaries. As Pastor Mary says, “When we don’t find ways to integrate children into the life of the church, the church misses out.”
Collaboration in Ministry
We encourage each other to recognize and use our God-given gifts. Since God created men and women in his image and poured out his Holy Spirit on both, we welcome leadership and teaching from both men and women. We try to be low on competition and high on collaboration.
Community
We are not meant to be alone. Genuine community is always a grace. It is a gift. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it: “Because God has bound us together in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ, long before we entered into common life with them, we enter into that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients.” Christian community becomes real in small steps, relationship by relationship, genuine connection by genuine connection, small group by small group.
Eating Together
It's true! We really do enjoy that. (For more on our commitment to “Loving Life,” please see our Vision.)
Goodness of Godly Authority
We affirm that “Holy Scripture is the supreme authority in the Church, that it is the Word of God written, and contains all things necessary to Salvation” (from the Thirty-Nine Articles, a historical document important to Anglicans). We also embrace the historic pattern of leadership in which churches are led by bishops, priests, and deacons; and we thank God for the wise authority and teaching of our bishop and the Anglican Church in North America.
Grace
Paul described the grace that we receive from Christ as a free gift. It is not something we can earn. It is not based on merit. We hope that a vivid sense of God’s grace will infuse all our interactions with others.
Inward Journey & Outward Journey
We believe in inner transformation through prayer, silence, honesty with others, and other Christian practices. This “inward journey” is designed to be balanced with the “outward journey” of loving others. God loves the poor, and the poor in spirit; God loves those who are far from Him, or alienated from the church; God loves every race, every class, every culture. An integral part of our mission is to look outward, confront darkness, and live in faithful witness, service, and care for those in need. Learn more on our Loving Others page.
Radically Resisting Busyness and Hurry
Modern life requires and rewards busyness and hurry—and even a local church may become frenetic. We try to resist busyness and over-programming, for as Eugene Peterson taught, “Busyness is an illness of spirit.”