working together to create space where people can live in relationship with God and with one another by:

• being authentic (true and honest) with God, with others, and with ourselves
• integrating faith into every area of life - body, mind, soul, and spirit
• creating "places of possibility" - sacred spaces and times that are infused with meaning and purpose in which people can live out the dreams of God in accordance with the desires of their hearts and their unique gifting and ability
• engaging the challenge and the beauty that is found in diversity
• struggling with hard questions and difficult times in community; clinging to and communicating hope
• allowing love to be the force that moves people toward healing and wholeness

ordering our lives according to the kingdom that Jesus described by:

• belonging to a community that is determined to follow God into mission, living in the way of Jesus and turning outside of itself to be a redemptive blessing in all the world
• liberating the imagination by devaluing the currency of the empire and radically shifting images toward those more in line with the kingdom of God
• struggling for justice and peace; crying out against oppression - mourning it, condemning it, and calling for change
• forming dynamic (as opposed to static) structures and systems that do not get in the way of mission, but rather promote it
• promoting creativity, innovation, and risk-taking, not always taking the roads that are safe or familiar; not being afraid to abandon long-held patterns of predictability; making space where fresh life can spring forth

telling the story of God as expressed in the Bible and being a part of the story of God that continues today by:

• learning from the history of our faith and of our world, remembering the tragedies and the failures as well as the triumphs and the successes
• honoring that which came before us, that which is now, and that which is to come
• remembering that we are a part of a greater story and looking for ways to bless one another
• being connected to, dependent on, and serving the global Church
• redefining the metrics of success by measuring not by numbers but by the depth of the stories that emerge from the community