Mission, Vision, & Values

To DEVELOP and to BE a church in downtown Tacoma that serves the city and its people by proclaiming the Good News of God’s love, grace, and justice revealed in Jesus Christ.

We do this through…

Relationships: building and nurturing relationships with one another, with the larger community, with those we serve, and with God.

Worship & Spiritual Practices: connecting with the transcendent and God’s spirit through spiritual activity and worship as a central part of our activity and our mission.

Reflection & Dialogue: providing space and opportunity for people to learn about and grow in faith through discussion and reflecting theologically.

Training and Development: providing opportunity and expertise to train people in ministry and to develop leaders for the common good of the city and the church universal.

Service and Advocacy: responding to the needs of the poor, oppressed, and marginalized in our community through providing services that meet immediate needs and advocating for changes in policy and structures that are oppressive.

We envision ourselves as a Church…

That is multicultural, diverse and welcoming to all; we welcome full participation of people regardless of denominational background, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status.Whose worship together is varied, diverse, relevant, and draws on the rich history and traditions of the Christian church while contextualizing it for a multicultural and changing cultureThat develops, nurtures, and uses the arts & artists as a means of exploring our faith and as a means of expressing our faith, as well as dialoguing and developing the faith of others in the wider communityThat is a gathering place for theological reflection, spiritual practice, ministry training, and leadership development within the city.That supports, collaborates, and develops efforts to seek justice and equity for all who live in our city; particularly the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized.That serves the spiritual and social needs of downtown residents and their families.

Ecumenical & Multi-cultural: We value, practice, and draw on the width and breadth of the catholic and protestant Christian experience and are a multicultural and inner-denominational churchEmpowering and Equipping: We value and are committed to equipping and empowering people for ministry and leadership in the community and for the world

Reflection & Dialogue: We value reflection and dialogue as the primary form and means for learning about faith and one anotherRelationships: We value relationship for the sake of relationship believing that through authentic relationship with God and one another effective ministry and transformation takes place

The Arts: We value the Arts as a unique and strategic part of our community context and as a means for exploring, expressing, and communicating truth and beauty about God and one another

The City of Tacoma: We value our city as a unique and defining part of our identity and we exist to seek the welfare of her and her residents

The Downtown Neighborhood: We value our particular neighborhood as a unique and particular part of our context that we must relate with, understand, identify with, and serve

The Journey: We value an understanding of the Christian experience and discipleship as a journey and process verses a one time conversion or simply an assent to an intellectual belief

The Least, Last, and Lost: We value the places and people that are marginalized and oppressed to the greatest degree in our culture because in the biblical witness Jesus pays particular attention to themWorship: We understand the revelation of God in Jesus Christ to be good news and our response is one of gratitude and worship directed to our loving, gracious, just, and beautiful God.