Mission & Values
Church of the Redeemer exists to be a worshipping community learning to follow Jesus here and now. We value historic faith, living worship, radical hospitality, real community, and holy wholeness.
We believe that we are living in a grand story: the story of how, in Christ, God has redeemed the world. Alongside Anglicans worldwide we seek to align our lives with that great story through the rich tradition we’ve inherited. We look to the Scriptures as the ultimate rule and guide to faith, the Creeds as faithful summaries of the Scriptures, and the Book of Common Prayer as “the Bible arranged for worship.” As we learn to follow Jesus here and now, his story becomes ours.
(See 1 Cor 11:23-26, 15:1-8; Jude 3; 2 Timothy 1)
Historic Faith
We believe we were made to worship! Worship is the center of our community. Each week we gather to remember and celebrate the great story, to receive from the Holy Spirit through the liturgy, music, and sacraments, and to offer back to God our whole selves in gratitude. As we learn to follow Jesus here and now, we are learning how to live our entire lives – not just Sunday mornings – as a sacrificial offering of worship to the living God.
(See Matt 22:37-39; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Col. 3:12-17)
Living Worship
We believe that every human being is made in the image of God and of infinite worth, and when we welcome someone in the name of Christ, it’s as if we welcome Christ himself. If God has welcomed us, who were at one time strangers and even enemies, into the embrace of his love, how much more should we extend that welcome to others! As we learn to follow Jesus here and now, we are learning to welcome others as radically as he did.
(See Rom. 15:7; Rom. 12:9-21; Isa. 58:6-10; Luke 14:12-14; Matt. 25:31-46; Eph 2:11-22)
Radical Hospitality
We believe that God created us for deep relationship with God and with others. We seek to cultivate a diverse, multigenerational community in which authentic relationships – where each person is seen, known, valued, and loved – are the norm, not the exception. We believe that real community requires real work, including working through conflict, seeking to speak truth in love, cultivating the fruit of the Spirit, and a whole lot of grace, humility, and forgiveness. As we learn to follow Jesus here and now, we are learning we do not walk alone.
(See Col. 3:1-14; John 15:9-17; Rom. 12:3-18; Eph. 4:1-16)
Real Community
We believe God’s goal is shalom (“peace”) – a “holy wholeness” of right relationships with self, others, God, and all creation when God’s kingdom will be “on earth as it is in heaven.” We align ourselves with God’s kingdom as we cooperate in God’s work of shalom in every area of life: from emotional, physical, racial, and relational healing, to freedom from addiction, to making disciples of Jesus, to creation care, to addressing systemic injustice and oppression, to caring for the poor and marginalized and more. As we learn to follow Jesus here and now, we are learning to live as agents of God’s holy wholeness wherever the Spirit leads us.
(See: Gal 5:16-26; James 2:14-17; Rom 13:8-14; Isa 58; Isa 11:1-9)