Loving God Loving Others
Welcome!
We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, filthy rich, or dirt poor. We welcome crying newborns, to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast.
Welcome to those who are skinny as a rail, and those who could afford to lose a few pounds. (Or more than a few.) You're welcome here if you're "just browsing," just woke up, or just got out of jail.
We welcome you if you're having problems, if you're down in the dumps, if you're thrilled to be alive, or in need of prayer.
We welcome those who are inked, pierced, both, or not at all.
We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted.
We welcome tourists, soccer moms, NASCAR dads, musicians, songwriters, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, and junk-food-lovers.
We don't care if you're more Catholic than the Pope, more Methodist than Wesley, been baptized more times than a catfish, "spiritual not religious," or haven't been in church since little Johnny's baptism.
We welcome you if you had church shoved down your throat as a kid, if church was the place you felt most loved in the world, or if you don't like "organized religion." (We've been there, too.)
Welcome if you got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake or are here only because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.
We welcome seekers and doubters, bleedings hearts, atheists, agnostics, cynics... and you!
(Adapted from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community)
Our Values
Community. We’re not a building. We’re people, loving, encouraging, and relying on one another. But church does not exist for itself, so we face outward, serve passionately, and give irrationally to offer God’s love through service and compassion.
Creativity. We serve the most creative being that's ever existed. We want to mirror that creativity in every aspect of our lives together, whether that be through the arts or through creative problem solving.
Curiosity. We're convinced that a childlike faith means asking really good questions. Faith and doubt are not opposites, but partners in a divine dance. Poking and prodding around in mystery is holy work.
Care for the Whole Person. We think that your spiritual life is your actual life. We want to care for each person holistically. Spirituality is not one aspect of your life, but the lens through which you view your entire life.
What to Expect
We know it takes a fair amount of courage to go to a new church where you may not know a single person or any of the songs. So the first time you come, we want to let you know some things to expect so you'll feel more comfortable:
Come as you are. No really, we mean it. People come in shorts, jeans, and occasionally fancy clothes. Dress up however you feel comfortable and it won't bother us a bit. Our sanctuary holds a mixture of couches and chairs to make you feel at home.
We're a different kind of church. Sometimes our services are focused on service. We help others. We care for each other. We laugh. We interact. Our pastor has a big beard. There's music, there's jokes, there's poetry, and art. There are married couples, singles, babies, kids, teens, Baby Boomers, and a few folks in their 70s. It's pretty easy to look around on a Sunday morning and wonder, "What do all of these people have in common?"
We like old and new. We've tried to take the best of church from the last 2,000 years and smash it together with our own unique culture and vision of the divine. Most of what we do is intentionally modern with a flavor of ancient thrown into the mix. Our music includes modern worship songs. We also value older hymns because of their richness, but we still play them with modern instruments like guitars, keyboards, and banjos. You might even hear a Taylor Swift, Tom Petty, or Garth Brooks cover.
Worship is what we're after. When we gather, we hope to settle for nothing less than an experience of the living God. This experience of God then sends us out into the world to change it. We're reminded of this as we partake of the Eucharist every week.
What you see is what you get. If your life is perfect and you never have any problems you're welcome here too, but most of us are just doing our best to make it through the day and to follow Jesus in the process.
Do We Really Need Another Church?
Hope is essential. "If a man has faith, he has hope, and if he has hope, he has everything!" We are experimenting with new ways to "do church" in a way that makes sense. It is a place where:
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The Gospel matters, liturgy is recontextualized, and we are free to reclaim the word "Christian"
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Scripture is honored enough to be faithfully studied, questioned, and struggled with
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We no longer have to hide parts of ourselves to be in Christian community
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The community is both intellectually and spiritually stimulating
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We provide a connection or a bridge to the traditions of the church
