There are many lonely people, outside the church but also within. We don’t think we can change the whole world at once, but we can follow Jesus’ method of investing deeply in a small group of people. We believe that tight-knit and authentic spiritual family is an important remedy to the individualism and loneliness of today. We invite isolated people into our living rooms and our lives. We engage with the lost and the poor in our communities, desiring to extend the spiritual family. We gather adults and children together, involving everyone in conversations and discipleship. We multiply into additional, small expressions as we grow, retaining relational connection. We promote unity with the broader church family.

In a world with access to all kinds of teaching and information, we recognize we can learn it all and still not know God. We are devoted to learning the Scriptures, but we intentionally invite the Spirit to bring life and power to the Word so that our lives might be transformed. We are not content with gaining second hand knowledge; instead, we want to experience God’s presence first hand, through the Word and Spirit, so that our lives actually look more like Jesus’s life. We commit to living out the primary issues of Scripture according to the way of Jesus rather than arguing over secondary issues of our faith.

In a church culture that tends to lean on a few professionals to lead, we want to activate the ordinary person. We help identify gifts in people, knowing we experience the presence of God more tangibly when the gifts are on display. We follow Jesus’ strategy of involving his disciples in conversation-based and practiced-based learning. We keep our forms and practices simple so that anyone can replicate them. We create spaces that encourage active participation - through dialogue and serving one another - because we value all in the body of Christ.