Our Values

Included in this document is a reminder of our communally affirmed values, as well as the preface that describes how we hold them:

With Jesus as our Centre, our Source and the One through whom we read scripture, we seek to live out the following values with authenticity and humility:

A Compelling Vision for Our Community

These three word couplets resonated deeply with our team. They captured themes we saw emerge from the community discernment. We believe they represent both a present longing and future hope for our community. Here‘s what we mean by these three ideas:

Jesus is the centre of who we are. We see and know God because Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, reveals God to us. We engage in the work of theology with Jesus as our starting point and Jesus as the lens by which we read the Bible.

We look at what we have seen in the life of Jesus. We take seriously what Jesus taught. We root ourselves in the knowledge that Jesus is not dead  or static, but rather alive and active. As one who is alive and active, we find Jesus where we have always found Jesus, at the margins, with those whom the powerful deem as powerless, less than, or othered.

As we consider the impact of theological reflection throughout history, we know that at times it has been weaponized against individuals and people groups alike. As such, we aspire to the ongoing work of repenting and repairing as we follow Jesus together.

By repenting we mean a commitment to listening to the Spirit and one another, seeking to learn, and being willing to change our mind and confess when we are wrong. It is a change of mind that results in a transformation of our habits, attitudes, systems and practices. By repairing we mean holistically working toward mending, reconciliation and reparation where harm has been done.

We are created by a relational God for relationship. The central axis upon which this relationality hinges is belovedness. God calls each one of us a beloved child and invites us to see one another as the same. We therefore approach every theological question and scriptural interpretation with a foundational understanding of the belovedness and dignity of each individual.  

We approach the Bible as a polyphonic text, which simply means that the Bible is written with many diverse authors, contributors, voices, and styles represented. Additionally, we aspire to be a polyphonic community whereby the diversity and multiplicity of voices in our community are both welcomed and highlighted in our biblical interpretation and theological formulation. 

As we give space for each person to wrestle with challenging issues as best as they can, we do not exclude anyone from belonging in our community of faith, whether they disagree with others or not. Rather, we seek to put people first – to see, listen to, and understand one another, as we commit to the ongoing cultivation of empathy and respect.

The practice of baptism is a sacrament and public declaration of orientation with the kingdom of God. The practice of baptism parallels the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, inviting the one being baptised to align themselves with that story, as they express a desire to follow Jesus. In baptism, we anticipate the voice of God speaking belovedness over us, and we renounce all of the other voices that try and tell us who we are. Finally, baptism is an invitation into the work of God’s kin-dom – the dream that God has for all of creation. We have chosen to practise baptism through immersion in water, but also acknowledge and affirm the different expressions of baptism.   

Baptism Litany: 
May the waters of God’s grace surround you and uphold you;
May the words of Jesus strengthen you to the work of the kingdom;
May the voice of the Father resound louder than all the other voices, so that you hear as He calls you His beloved; 
And may the Spirit that descended upon Jesus at His baptism fall upon your shoulders and give you strength as you seek to do God’s will.
Amen.

Child dedication is an opportunity for parents or caregivers to express a desire to raise their children to explore a real and vibrant faith centred on Jesus, and for our community to commit to care for and to embrace this child and their parents as full participants in our community of faith as we walk this journey together. Many of us come from a variety of faith traditions and backgrounds, and some of us may be more familiar with infant baptism as this first marker in a faith journey. As a community we have chosen to practise baptism as older children, youth or adults. However, we do also appreciate that there is something significant and beautiful about coming around a family as they are stepping into a journey of raising a child or children to know and experience the love of God. 

We approach the practice of sharing in the Eucharist (or Communion) with curiosity and open hands, knowing that Jesus is inviting us into this regular practice that holds significant meaning and mystery. We gather around the Eucharist table as a way of centering ourselves on Jesus – acknowledging that the Eucharist places Christ at the centre of our worship. As we share in this practice together, we recognize Christ’s  presence with us spiritually, emotionally and physically. And as we hear the story of Jesus over and over, break the bread and drink the cup regularly, we are reminded about who God is and the story that we are invited into. This remembering both fills us and forms us, as we receive this gift of reconciliation around Christ’s table that is open to all. And as we practise this sacrament, it becomes a way for the ordinary things, the bread and cup, to help us pay attention to the presence of God in our midst.

Gathering around the Eucharist table is also an invitation to be present to one another. One of the beautiful things we see reflected in the sacraments of the Church is that we need one another. The welcome, hospitality and gratitude that we experience at the table, we carry with us and reflect to the world.

We approach the Bible as a polyphonic text, which simply means that the Bible is written with many diverse authors, contributors, voices, and styles represented. Additionally, we aspire to be a polyphonic community whereby the diversity and multiplicity of voices in our community are both welcomed and highlighted in our biblical interpretation and theological formulation. 

As we give space for each person to wrestle with challenging issues as best as they can, we do not exclude anyone from belonging in our community of faith, whether they disagree with others or not. Rather, we seek to put people first – to see, listen to, and understand one another, as we commit to the ongoing cultivation of empathy and respect.

The practice of hospitality and generosity finds its origin in the character of God through the activity of both giving and receiving. God is hospitable and God is generous. To practice hospitality is both to welcome in another and to be open to be welcomed by another. In the first, this can be done by opening up one’s home, sharing a meal, or inviting another into the rhythms of one’s life. When we are open to the hospitality of others, we are able to enter into someone else’s home and/or life without judgement.

To practice generosity is both the reaching out to another with a gift and the willingness to depend on others and receive their gift to us. This could be a gift of time, compassion, encouraging words, a warm meal, or something else. Both the giving and the receiving are important as we cultivate a sense of interdependent community. 

Both shift our focus from ourselves to the care and belovedness of the community beyond ourselves. Our hope is to practise hospitality and generosity both as individuals/families in the larger community, and as a church community with the world around us.

The practice of rest is rooted in a healthy understanding of the seasons. We see in scripture invitations to doing and being, to contemplation and action, to going and resting. The practice of rest finds its origin in the pattern of work as seen in creation, where God creates and God rests. Sabbath rest is a foundational practice for the people of God, and we see value in building intentional days and periods of rest into our yearly rhythms as a community. We understand rest to be integral to the stewardship of creation, the flourishing of our relationships with God and others, and contributing to our physical, emotional and spiritual health. We hope to foster and encourage a culture of rest. For all of us, there are seasons of generativity and action, as well as seasons of contemplation and rest. We need all of these.

We believe that the practice of coming together to worship through song, communal spiritual practices, liturgy and prayer provides an opportunity to both contemplate the goodness of God, and to be transformed by the love of God. As we worship and commune with God through prayer, song and other spiritual practices, we take moments to pause and behold. And this contemplation contributes  to our transformation as we are reminded who Jesus is, moving us to embody true worship as we seek to live out the kin-dom of God on earth. Although we can engage in many of these spiritual practices on our own, we have experienced the beauty of holding space for one another and pointing one another to hope through the communal practice of joining together in spiritual practices and prayer.

We accept Christ in us as the ultimate teacher to the church, and communal interpretation as a regular practice. Christ teaches through the community, to the community. We recognize that having diverse voices contributing to the teaching is not only the medium, but an aspect of our message to the world. 

Additionally, we believe that the teaching component of our gatherings is only the beginning of the conversation, and that every person has something to contribute as we engage in communal interpretation and discernment. We see wisdom in both engaging in curious discussion and in listening to one another. We practise this through conversation for the purposes of sharing ideas, ongoing growth, and critical thinking, and for mutual reflection on what it means to be a community centred on Jesus. 

We believe that the exploration of big questions around faith, God and humanity (among others) is best done with a posture of curiosity in the safety of trusted relationships. We recognize that faith formation takes many shapes for many people. Our practice of exploring faith together involves kids, youth and adults, those who have deep roots in the faith and those who are just beginning, those who have unanswered questions and those who are yet to wrestle with aspects of their faith. With open hands, we aim to have grace for one another as we aim to follow Jesus together.

We believe that the Church is called to be an expression of beloved community – one that is marked with a sense of belonging as family and kin. It’s our desire to not only gather together for regular times of worship, liturgy, teaching and service, but to also share our daily lives together. One of the ways that we practise beloved community is through being connected to one another in smaller groups throughout the neighbourhoods of our region. We share life with one another in our homes, parks, streets and by connecting throughout the week. Here we experience belonging, a fabric of care, knowing and being known, opportunities to grow and a smaller community that invites our gifts and contributions.