Mission / Parish Profile / 10 Reasons to visit / History of Parish

10. A sense of humor
We're not very pious or puritanical.  Just because we take
God seriously doesn't mean we have to take ourselves
seriously!

9.  Respect for every human being
We respect each person's ability to respond to God
in their own way, according to their own needs, in their own time.
We are wrestling with what it means to be a multicultural
community in a multicultural world.
We are committed to eliminating the sin of racism
in our world.
Women take a full part in all aspects of church life--as lay
people, deacons, priests, and bishops.
We welcome gay and lesbian people.

8.  A place to share life's journey
Each of us is on a journey.  Our understandings of God and
the world change as we grow and change.  Our church
understands this and gives us friends who share our joys,
sorrows, and questions along the way.
In an age of excessive individualism, we affirm the 
importance of community, and we offer a community where
individuals can be themselves.

7.  Caring about the wider world
We seek a church not to escape our society but to support our
participation in it.
Most of our m embers are actively involved in the life of our
town, state, and nation.
Our baptismal promises commit us to work for justice and
peace, and to respect the dignity of every human being.

6.  Love for the earth
Our tradition has always had a deep appreciation for the
ways we experience God through the material world, and
today we are discovering a deeper sense of responsibility to
care for our planet.
The nature-loving spirituality of the Celtic peoples
influenced the development of the Anglican church, from
which our church is descended.  Around the world our church
is seeking ways to incorporate the wisdom of indigenous
peoples in its life and worship.

5.  Rooted in a rich tradition
We value our connection with Christians throughout the
centuries from whom we have received the Bible, a rich
heritage of spirituality, beautiful forms of worship and music,
and wisdom.
But we know that we serve not the past but a living God, and
God's people who surround us.

4.  Respect for human experience and reason
Our spirituality is based on scripture, tradition, reason, and
human experience.
This means we are not afraid of the learning of science,
medicine, or psychology; nor of modern biblical scholarship.
We welcome them as sources of religious understanding.
It means we can see God's revelation in history, as when the
world came to understand the wrongfulness of slavery, the
way nuclear weapons required a new way of thinking, and 
the rightness of equality for women.
It means we trust our own life experiences as an important
source of knowledge about God.
It means we don't ask for conformity of thinking. Our unity is
in worshiping and praying together, and in our commitment
to love God and our neighbor.

3.  Spirituality
Our heritage includes many different types of spirituality.
Our clergy will be happy to talk to you about what kinds of
spiritual disciplines make the most sense for you.  In most
communities, they can also recommend lay people who are
trained to be companions to others in their spiritual journey,
and can introduce you to wise and caring people who will be
happy to share their experience with you.

2.  A place to know God's love
Some people will come to know God's love in the concern of
a friend, in a moment of joyful worship, in a social event, or
in the beauty of flowers on the alter.
Others will come to know God's love in sermons that
emphasize the kindness of God or while taking part in the
holy meal known as communion or Eucharist.
And our church will strengthen your ability to share God's
love with others.

1.  A place to be human
As humans we all experience joy and sorrow, anger and
reconciliation, laughter, love and beauty.  In our church we
are free to be who we are and feel what we feel.  We don't have
to pretend to be happy when we're not, or "loving" when
we're angry.
Most of us don't look very "religious".
If God could become human -- something we celebrate every
year at Christmastime -- so can we!