WHO WE ARE
Are you a church?
It depends on what you mean by "church". We're not trying to be coy, but we are sensitive about language and what we are communicating. If by "church" you mean a winsome band of mostly Jesus-followers, gathering together to encourage one another, connect with God, and bless the world around them...then yes, we're totally a church. (Or at least we aspire to be on our best days. Nobody's perfect.) But if "church" means pipe organs, gender inequality, a disdain for science, or a propensity to try to tell you how to think, then it's not a good description for what we're doing (though we honestly have nothing against pipe organs!). That's why we often opt for calling ourselves a "Community of Faith", because, honestly, we are.
No matter who – no matter what – no matter where we are on life’s journey – notwithstanding race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, socioeconomic status, or creed – we all are beloved of God, and we are dedicated to serve one another. When you join us, you have our community’s promise of ‘love, support and care’ – and we promise that we won’t take it back – no matter where your journey leads you.
Are you Christian?
Similar to "church", "Christian" can be a loaded word, meaning different things to different people. We try to follow Jesus. We believe Him to be the most clear picture of God we've seen in this life. We seek not only to follow His teachings and example, as communicated through the stories in the Bible, but to live in connection with Him.
We try to cultivate interactive relationships with Jesus so that we may be continually transformed by Him and made to be more like Him. Our hope in this is that, we, like He, can bring fullness of life to the world we inhabit. We welcome the religious, the non-religious, the agnostic, and the skeptical-but-curious to come along for the ride and be a part of this search for meaning. We find Jesus quite helpful. Call that "Christian" or "faith movement" or whatever!
Will I be allowed to participate fully?
If you've ever been told that you can’t participate in certain activities or serve in certain areas because of your gender, your sexual orientation, you've been divorced, that you are too young, too old, etc. know that we disagree. We don't limit where you can participate or serve based on any of those things or any other of the myriad of reasons we've heard. While not everyone is a good fit for every position, we look at where God is pointing you and see if we can get behind it. It's about you and God and where your relationship with God is taking you.
So are you, like, a gay church?
Again the answer to this question depends on what you mean. Are we a community of faith solely for the LGBTQIA+ community? No. We welcome, affirm, and include many people who hold many different identities. Do we have LGBTQIA+ people who are members? Yes, in fact, Pastor Ben identifies as a Queer man and wrote his dissertation on LGBTQIA+ leaders in Christianity. We have Queer folks serving in all ministries and many strong allies among our leaders and members.