A Word from Our Pastor

It's a joy for me to share with you a brief word about our church and its ministry.

For the past 14 years it has been my privilege to serve as the pastor of this open-minded and open-hearted congregation that speaks the language of God's love in Christ not only within our church family but beyond our congregation as well. I believe that the strength of our church is found in both the care and concern that gets expressed within this community of faith and in the commitments of our congregation to search for spiritual truths that makes the world a better place to live for everyone rather than claiming religious certainty that alienates and divides people.

As you may have already learned from our website, our church stands within a progressive Christianity orientation so that our worship services, our educational programs, and our ministry efforts are shaped by this understanding of the Gospel.

Here are a few examples of the kind of issues and challenges that our church attempts to address:

A Recognition that Jesus' vision of the Kingdom of God contains a critique of America's culture of domination, consumerism, and greed, that confronts us with an ethical challenge to work for economic justice and the common good of all.
An appreciation for the inclusive nature of God's love revealed in Jesus Christ that calls us to move beyond our fears and prejudices to confront racism, sexism, nationalism, and sexual orientation discrimination.
Exploring contemporary ways of professing that Jesus is the unique revelation of God for us as Christians, without denigrating the faith claims of other religious traditions that exist in the world.
Finding the courage to face the pain and suffering of God's people in the world and to use our gifts and blessings in uplifting the weak and the vulnerable among us.
A commitment to raise our voices on behalf of peace amid the warring madness of the world and to seek the well-being of our communities in ways that provide all people with dignity and respect.
Embodying an awareness that we live under the grace and mysteries of God where our understandings of Truth, along with our attempts to follow Christ, are always limited and imperfect.

I believe that you will find that the mission and ministries of our church, including our worship services, are reflective of these issues and challenges that we find in the Biblical witness to the Gospel and in our progressive Christian orientation to the faith. To help you get a flavor of this progressive Christian approach to the Gospel, you can read some of my most recent sermons.

So, if you are looking for a church that welcomes serious reflection about the Christian faith, a strong commitment to ministries of compassion and social justice, a welcoming spirit of acceptance, and the willingness to celebrate life and to enjoy God, then I invite you to join us for worship or for any of the other programs or activities of our church that you may learn about from this website.

I hope you will come visit us next Sunday!

Lou Snead, Pastor