Our process for discerning a vision for this community together has included three considerations: our values, our vision, and our mission. We sometimes use the word implementation alongside mission in order to differentiate between the mission or missions activity of the church, and the various ways we are working to move toward actualizing and arriving at our vision.

Here’s how we are using these three concepts:

help us when we’re faced with a choice or a challenge. They anchor us. They root us. They help us to know why we would choose one thing over another.

describes where we are going. It speaks to both our desired destination and the kind of community we are seeking to become.

We aspire to be a people who seek to encounter Jesus together, and who experience personal and communal transformation through the ongoing cultivation and renovation of our faith. We desire to be open to the ongoing work and guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives – marked by curiosity, humility, a willingness to take time to listen and the courage to take risks.

We aspire to be a people seeking justice and peacemaking by joining with the work of Jesus in the redemption and renewal of our relationships with God, one another and the Earth. We recognize our call to be people of reconciliation, and seek to live this out in the ways that we both contemplate our spirituality and work toward a more just and mended world.

We aspire to be a people who reflect the diversity of our region, where all people are both invited and welcomed into full participation. We desire to build a bigger table for all – creating spaces where the dignity and belovedness of each individual is recognized and where we lean into the practice of hospitality together as a community.

We aspire to be a people who experience a sense of belonging and deep relationships as we share life together. We seek to walk with integrity, honesty, transparency and collaboration with one another – reimagining how power is held and fostering wider participation in all areas of our community.

We aspire to be a people with open hands and deep gratitude, who seek to imitate and extend the compelling generosity of God to others. We strive to care deeply about what happens beyond our church community – expressing love for our neighbours, our city, and the world we live in.

• Humility and curiosity with our faith and each other
• Transparency and accountability in our decisions
• Generosity with our gifts and resources

• Shared teaching and leadership
• Inclusive practices and participation
• Diversity in representation

• Balanced rhythms for how we gather, rest, and serve
• A desire to serve and connect beyond the pews
• Critiquing and reshaping of power structures and
  systems

We have chosen to live with firm but permeable boundaries*, where we clearly articulate our corporate theological commitments, while also allowing for the free flow of ideas. We believe it’s possible to have unity without demanding uniformity.
After all, the life-giving centre for Elevation is not a particular statement or belief, but a trusting way of life rooted in Jesus. Our Key Values articulate what it looks like for someone to follow Jesus as a member of the Elevation community.

While beliefs do not comprise the centre of our faith, they can help give shape and meaning to the centre. We humbly hold on to a number of core faith expressions and the teaching and leadership of the church will draw from this well of understanding. Those who believe differently are still able (and are, in fact, invited) to contribute to the theological vision of the community as a whole.

In light of all of this, and in unity with our broader Jesus Collective family, we acknowledge the formational significance of the following core faith expressions:

Everything about us starts and ends with Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, the author and finisher of our faith, and the King of our Kingdom. Jesus is God in the flesh, the union of God and humankind, our doorway to knowing, understanding, and experiencing God and our true humanity, and the model and means for our reunion with God. Jesus is the authoritative living Word of God to us, and we submit to him as his lifelong apprentices, Kingdom citizens, commissioned ambassadors, and beloved friends. Through Jesus, we get to know the Father and experience the Spirit.

The essence of the Source and Sustainer of the universe is love. Love is relational energy, within and between persons. God is, by definition, always relating within Godself. God is triune, three-in-one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything God does is an expression of who God is, which is eternal,
infinite love.

The Spirit, the breath of God, blows us toward Jesus, grows the fruit of love in our hearts, empowers us for ministry, and distributes gifts among the Church to help build up the Body of Christ. Through the Spirit, we have the mind of Christ, and continue to experience the presence of God at all times for conviction, confirmation, and comfort.

Humans are made in God’s image and likeness, made by Relationship for relationship, by Love for love. As the parables of the lost coin, lost sheep, and lost son affirm, we have lost our way through our own sin and are unable to save ourselves. But Jesus shows us a God who values us enough to pursue us, restore us to who we were made to be, and celebrate with us whenever we come home.

The Bible teaches, history demonstrates, and experience affirms that something is wrong with everything. This world is filled with both beauty and horror, and humans amplify experiences of both. The Bible calls the corrosive force that separates us from God, from each other, and from our better selves, “sin”. Jesus came to heal our hearts, save us from sin, and show us a better way.

Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God brought an end to his own religion (the Old Covenant), inaugurated the New Covenant (a new way of being in relationship with God and one another), and offers us eternal and abundant life now, all as a gift. In this New Covenant, God gives all believers a new heart, a new spirit, and God’s own Spirit to change us from the inside out. This is pure grace, which we receive by simple faith, expressed in following Jesus.

To believe in Jesus is to trust Jesus, which is to follow Jesus. Biblical “faith” includes “faithfulness”. Jesus calls us to follow him, through death, to life. Christians pledge their allegiance to King Jesus as Lord, Leader, Messiah, and Master. We are not just believers, but disciples, apprentices of Jesus, learning together how to obey everything he commands. Baptism is not only about our death to and cleansing from sin, but also about us rising again into a new life of faithfulness to and intimacy with Christ.

Like John the Baptist and the star of Bethlehem, the Bible points people to Jesus. The Bible, Old and New Testaments, is our God-given window to see Jesus most clearly, and is useful to equip us for living as his disciples. We believe in the divine inspiration and delegated authority of all Scripture and we read and interpret the Bible together, with Jesus at the centre. Most importantly, the Bible helps us know Jesus, and Jesus helps us interpret, understand, and apply the Bible. (Note: In practice, while many Christians speak of the “inerrancy” and “authority” of the Bible as the “Word of God”, we tend to reserve this language for speaking of Jesus.)

Because we see Jesus’ life and teaching as God’s authoritative Word to us, we take his teachings about all things – including non-violent enemy-love, active peacemaking, relational reconciliation, and the priority of receiving and offering forgiveness – very seriously. We seek to live peaceful, reconciled lives, to encourage other believers to do the same, and to actively extend the peace of Jesus to the world. We especially desire to be peacemakers within the fractured body of Christ as we make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Jesus came to establish his Kingdom and he invites us to live in it now. This isn’t a Kingdom of land and laws, but one of our hearts and relationships. This Kingdom defines for us a new culture and identity that stand in sweeping contrast to the kingdoms of this world. Christ-followers are ambassadors on behalf of the Jesus Nation to the people of all nations, with church communities functioning as embassies to experience a taste of the Christ Country. Our purpose every day is to experience, express, and extend the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

* Miroslav Volf, A Public Faith

Elevation seeks to be a safe and welcoming place for all people to follow Jesus. We recognize and mourn the fact that many of our 2SLGBTQ+ siblings have been excluded from and oppressed by the Church. We believe that this is not the way of Jesus. We seek to do and be better as we follow Christ together.

We believe everyone should act according to their convictions and personal discernment, and our community will seek to support you whether you choose to pursue marriage, a relationship or singleness. The pronouns you feel most comfortable with are what we desire to use. We recognize that we may sometimes get it wrong. We hope that you will feel comfortable to remind or correct us. Please feel free to use the washroom you feel most comfortable in. All-gender washrooms are also available.

We believe that all people are created with dignity and intrinsic value, being made in the image of God. In our community, we recognize that we may hold many diverse views on any given topic. However, we strive to walk together with love, grace and respect, and therefore abusive language or behaviour will not be tolerated. While Elevation is committed to respecting each individual’s right to interpret and live out scripture according to their convictions, we are committed to approaching our teaching with an anti-oppressive lens – reflecting the commitments of this document. 

You, your marriage and your family as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community will be celebrated and valued just as we would celebrate and value any other individual, marriage, or family. We also seek to highlight the diversity of our community in our stories, artwork and communication.

We want everyone at Elevation to be involved in the life and ministry of our church. We welcome 2SLGBTQ+ individuals at all levels of leadership, including staff and the Pastoral Team.

We know we will not always get it right. We commit to being open to feedback from the 2SLGBTQ+ community and seek to listen and do better. If you have any questions or concerns you can contact the office (info@elevationwaterloo.org) to be put in touch with Brian Pengelly or Melissa Burke.