Vision Statement: Fierce justice, Radical love, Abundant grace.
Mission Statement: We are an inclusive faith community, joining our neighbors, boldly living God’s love in a world of beauty and brokenness, as Jesus did.
Values:
- Extravagant welcome…
- Theological elbow room…
- Engaging worship and heartfelt prayer…
- Children and families of all sorts…
- The uncompromising pursuit of justice…
- Each other…
Definition of each phrase :
At Cherokee Park United Church we value:
Extravagant welcome…
- to humans of all ages, from womb to tomb.
- to people of all races and ethnicities.
- to women and men, or wherever you find yourself on the spectrum of gender.
- to gay and to straight, or however you express your human love for another.
- to humans who fit anywhere on the spectrum of physical and mental abilities.
- to those whose lives are touched by addiction, or issues of mental health.
- to any who have been marginalized by systems and institutions (including the church!)
Theological elbow room…
- because it ensures a safe space to be vulnerable and to grapple with our own assumptions.
- because curiosity and questions are really good things, and none of us can claim all the answers.
- because we believe in dynamic growth and learning, and don’t dare put a period where God has placed a comma.
Engaging worship and heartfelt prayer…
- with community prayer at the heart of our being together.
- with equal room for the feminine face of God in images and language.
- by seeking out the quiet, thin places where the Divine Presence is most closely felt.
- with sermons that challenge our hearts and our minds.
- with global music, and children dancing in the aisles.
- with art and creative activities that express the many faces of God and humanity.
- by speaking in terms of we, rather than them, for no one is an other in God’s eyes.
- by emphasis on God’s original blessing, not humanity’s original sin.
Children and families of all sorts…
- by offering faith formation opportunities that are age-appropriate and grounded in progressive theology.
- by covenanting through baptism to love and support parents and all caregivers as they grow the future.
- by embracing the whole glorious mess that is modern family life with humor and compassion.
The uncompromising pursuit of justice…
- by acknowledging in the historical figure of Jesus all the richness and diversity of the human experience.
- by declaring ourselves to be an actively antiracist congregation and challenging ourselves to live out that claim.
- by standing up for the LGBTQ+ community and offering full inclusion in church life.
- with tender care for our planet and a commitment to environmental justice.
- by declaring food, shelter, and health care to be basic human rights and working toward economic justice for all.
Each other…with radical love, just as we are, blemishes and all.