Our Church Values

The Practice Church is a community seeking to live our everyday lives in the presence of God, so we might be formed by Jesus to be like Jesus for the sake of the world..

God is inviting us to become people who value:

PRESENCE: WALKING WITH JESUS
The way of Jesus is an invitation to live in his presence. We want to spend so much time with Jesus that we begin to think and feel and live like him. We become like Jesus by making our home in his presence in our everyday lives. Spiritual practices are exercises to help us recognize and cooperate with God’s loving presence. (Mark 1:16-20, John 15:1-8)


FORMATION: BECOMING LIKE JESUS
The way of Jesus is the way of ongoing formation. We recognize our efforts alone are not enough to become like Jesus. We cannot love God and love our neighbors as ourselves by the strength of our own will. We must become like Jesus from the inside out. Rather than simply trying to be like him, we value spiritual practices as a means of training in Christlikeness. (Matthew 11:28-30, Galatians 4:19, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27)


COMMUNITY: TOGETHER IN JESUS
The way of Jesus is communal. We are created by a relational God to live in relationship with one another, so the abundant, kingdom life is not solitary. We seek to be a family that rejoices together and bears one another’s burdens as we share deeply the joys and sorrows of life. We also value the rich diversity of the historic Church community and seek to learn from teaching and practices throughout the Christian tradition. (John 17:20-21, 1 Corinthians 12)


HOSPITALITY: LOVING LIKE JESUS
The way of Jesus is the way of hospitality. Because each of us is created in the image of God, we long to be a place of welcome and rest for all people: the young and old, energetic and tired, those who rejoice and those who grieve, and all who suffer injustice. We seek to embody the abundant, kingdom life in the world and invite others to join us in the way of Jesus. (Matthew 28:18-20, 1 John 4:7-12)


FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD
The way of Jesus is always for the sake of the world. We are committed to being grounded in Christ’s loving presence so that we are equipped to be his hands and feet to a broken and hurting world. We want God’s love to overflow into the world as we join the Holy Spirit’s redemptive kingdom work, seeking the good of our neighbors, loving mercy, and doing justice as we walk humbly with our God. (Luke 4:16-21, Luke 10:25-37, Micah 6:8)