Our Vision & Values

OUR VISION & MISSION

To be an inclusive, gospel-centered community of lovers of Jesus Christ
who connect people to God, grow together, serve the city, and extend God’s kingdom.

OUR CORE VALUES

Our core values explain each word of our vision statement and are the DNA of our church:

What we seek to be:

Inclusive
Gospel-Centered
Community
Lovers of Jesus Christ

What we seek to do:

Connect
Grow
Serve
Extend

“BE” CORE VALUES:

Inclusive: We are a multi-ethnic, multi-socioeconomic Christian church where anyone can come as he or she is. We welcome everyone without judgment, whether you are Black, White, Latino, or Asian, live in a penthouse loft or skid row, work in U.S. Bank Tower or are on welfare, plan to vote Democratic or Republican, are gay or straight, have a moral lifestyle or a loose one. We are a “come-as-you-are” church.

Gospel-Centered: Our salvation, worth, and identity come by grace (which means undeserved gift) by faith in Christ, and not by our own performance.  We live as children of God, unconditionally accepted and loved, and not as those who live in fear, trying to earn our way to God’s blessings. This is at the heart of who we are.

Community: We are a community where we care for and be vulnerable with one another, where we are accepted even if we are messed up, different, poor, rich, average, arrogant, timid, a sinner. We mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. We are emotionally and intellectually honest with God and one another.

Lovers of Jesus Christ: We love God, and so we seek an intimate relationship with Him made possible by what Jesus has done on the cross. We seek Him primarily for the pleasure of His company, and not just for what He can bless us with or what we think we can do for Him.

 

“DO” CORE VALUES:

Connect People to God: We are passionate about welcoming people who are not in a relationship with God. As such, we don’t want to create a church primarily for ourselves; we want to create a church primarily for our friends and neighbors.

Grow Together: In order for us to grow together, for inside-out transformation to happen, we need to live by the Spirit, which we believe encompasses the following four things:

  • Believing the gospel with all of ourselves (intellectually, emotionally, volitionally, spiritually), not just to become a Christian, but also to grow as a Christian. The gospel is the foundation for Christian growth. It is only when we realize the truth of our sins and the power of His grace that our hearts are changed from inside-out and our lives are transformed. (Gospel-Centered)
  • Drawing near to God as Abba (Daddy) in an intimate relationship with Him as a loved son or a daughter, walking in His presence every moment of our lives, listening to His promptings, and obeying Him. Spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation, worship, Bible study, solitude, confession, and fasting help us develop this intimacy with God. This is the process for Christian growth. Through this intimate relationship with God, He transforms us from inside-out. (Contemplative)
  • Being empowered with the Holy Spirit. We are asking God to empower us with the power of the Holy Spirit in order to prevail over the powers of darkness. We expect God’s supernatural power to be a part of our Christian growth. This is the fuel for Christian growth. (Charismatic)
  • Doing it together. We believe that transformation happens in the context of community. This is the context for Christian growth. It is through discipleship and godly relationships that we spur one another to live by the Spirit. (Communal)

Serve the City: We seek to be good news even to those who are not a part of the church because we become a part of the city and serve to benefit the city. We want to love the city because God loves the city. We network and partner with other groups and organizations to collectively serve the city. We also seek to help people integrate work and faith. In addition to sharing the gospel of Jesus with people at work, we seek to help people love, serve, and transform the city through their vocations.

Extend God’s kingdom: We seek to develop leaders and disciplers who extend the Kingdom of God and become a part of the movement of the Kingdom of God, particularly by church planting both domestically and internationally.

 

Vision 2020

To deepen our roots in the downtown neighborhood, we are investing in three strategic areas:

1. Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

2. Families & Children Ministry

3. Cultivating a Culture of Care

To broaden our reach as a church, we are planting a second parish in the San Fernando Valley.