Our Vision:
Bringing life transformation through community shaped by God, people, and the culture.
Our Mission Statement:
Being relevant to the unchurched and to bring them into an authentic relationship with Jesus and the community, growing together into the reflection of Jesus Christ and passionately responding to the needs of the hurting.
Our Core Values:
Relevance: Connect Jesus with today’s generation by incorporating creativity and integrity in all that we do.
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. – 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 (NIV)
Allowing people to see that Jesus Christ is relevant in their lives is our chief task. We truly believe that life with Jesus is far better than anything else the world has to offer. We believe that in order to impact our generation the presentation of the Gospel must be relevant. We do this by first acknowledging the suffering in our world, not hiding behind religion but allowing suffering to enter our spiritual journey.
We believe that in order to impact our generation the presentation of the Gospel must be relevant
We recognize that we need to constantly seek new ways of doing church. One way is by embracing creativity in how we express our worship to Jesus by embracing the arts. In a world where the arts have dictated the pace of the culture, we too are committed to the arts, striving to impact culture rather than react to it. With an ever-increasing global village, we also believe the church should be the model for racial diversity. Since Jesus came to remove the racial and socio-economic barriers that separate us, we will keep ourselves from perpetuating those barriers by passionately embracing each other’s culture and background and celebrating this diversity.
Relationship: Foster authenticity in a diverse community through Jesus’ love and grace.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. -Acts 2: 44-47 (NIV)
With the genuine love and acceptance Jesus has shown to people from all walks of life, we desire to be a community that will welcome people from all the rich diversity that exists in the NY/NJ area. We want to be a safe place for people to ask questions and engage in conversation about Jesus. We believe that genuine love and acceptance can only happen in a spirit of authenticity, so we must first be honest with ourselves, our hurts and our pains, and then allow Jesus to be a part of the reality of our brokenness. We seek to be authentic in the expressions of our faith, not merely partaking in religious practices. We must also be real and honest in our interactions as a community. We believe it is through facing the difficulties and the joys that we can truly celebrate the richness of our relationship with Jesus and with our community. And as we do this, we firmly believe that these relationships will last a lifetime.
Reflection: Grow as Jesus’ representatives to the world through training, discipleship, and service.
…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. -Ephesians 4:12-13 (NIV)
We encourage each member of our community to serve in the areas of their passion and gifting
As followers of Jesus’ teachings, we seek to reflect the love, passion, and message of Jesus to the world around us. While recognizing our reflection of Jesus may be less than perfect, we desire to grow in commitment to training and disciplining ourselves in every area of life. In order to do so, it requires us to move towards a deeper understanding of the life of Jesus as our model and of our present relationship with Jesus as our constant motivator.
In celebration of the unique value and giftedness of each person, we encourage each member of our community to serve in the areas of their passion and gifting. It is through our acts of service that the growth of our faith and the building up of the community will flourish.
Response: Demonstrate Jesus’ compassion through catalytic initiatives of entrepreneurship, empowerment, and restoration.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. -1 John 3:17, 18 (NIV)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28 (NIV)
We firmly believe that following Jesus Christ in the 21st century means having compassion and taking action for the poor and oppressed
Like Jesus, we are passionate about helping people who are hurting. We firmly stand against racism, sexism, and classism, because we are all one in Jesus Christ. We firmly believe that following Jesus Christ in the 21st century means having compassion and taking action for the poor and oppressed. We want to be a voice for people whose voice is not being heard. We want to offer hope to those who have lost all sense of hope. Whatever hurt life presents to us, we want to be a place where anyone can feel loved. We want to be entrepreneurial in our approach, which means creating innovative ways in meeting the needs of the poor and oppressed.
As we seek to be in solidarity with the hurting people of this world, we want to champion the task of empowering and restoring the disenfranchised, and celebrate with them the amazing grace of Jesus Christ.
