Our Values

The Eternal Relevance of Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all of scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Our belief in this truth is not just a doctrinal stance, but it affects how we live as a community. We desire to be a people who are submitted to the Scriptures, because they are inspired by our living God and truly show us the best way to live. The scriptures are not only a great guide book for life, but they build us up and help us in our relationship with Jesus Christ. As a church we are committed to helping others understand how the ancient truths of the Bible apply to the everyday challenges, decisions, circumstances that we all face.

The Transforming Nature of Worship

We believe that as a community comes together to worship God, they are transformed—in the way they live, the way they think, and the way the view themselves and the world. Our hope is that anyone visiting our community, regardless of the spiritual journey they are on, will see firsthand God’s desire to bring positive change to our lives. Our services follow an Anglican liturgy—which means there is an order to the service that includes historical prayers and practices. This liturgy, combined with relevant teaching, meaninful worship, and a welcoming community, draws people into a deeper connection with God. The Anglican value for symbolic objects like the cross, symbolic colors of the church calendar year, and even symbolic clothing such as the priest’s stole as the yoke of Christ provides profound and transformative symbols to a media saturated, but often symbolically confused culture.

The Necessity of Dependence on God

Psalm 127:1 says “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders build in vain.” From its beginning, Church of the Cross has set goals that could only be accomplished through God building the house. One primary way we acknowledge and live out our dependence on God is through making prayer essential to all else that we do. As we pray we acknowledge our need for God and our desire to work alongside Him. Prayer is speaking out our desires, needs, thanksgivings, and confessions to God, while also expectantly waiting to hear His response.

The Power of Connectedness

We strive to form an encouraging community that takes seriously the Biblical call to love and serve one another. True encouragement goes beyond kind words to also include honest sharing, praying for and with one another, genuine hospitality, and a willingness to sacrifice and give. We need the support, friendship, and vision of each other to fully grow into the calling God has placed on our individual lives. Discipleship, affirmation of gifts, healing, and leadership development are key processes which take place in our larger community, as well as our small groups and ministry teams.

The Witness of Generosity and Hospitality

We not only introduce Christ to others, but we meet Him ourselves, when we serve and give to those outside of our community. Reaching out to those around us—whether locally, trans-culturally, or globally—strengthens our faith and demonstrates the love of Christ in a tangible way. It requires a willingness to step out of our normal routines to reach those who are different from us. Generosity and hospitality are two sides of the same coin. Generosity involves giving away from what we have to help others in their needs—whether those needs are physical, emotional, or spiritual. Hospitality is inviting people into our lives and all that God has provided for us in order to share and enjoy that abundance with others. Both generosity and hospitality go beyond physical provision into sharing our very lives with others.

The Blessing of Children

In Matthew 19:14 Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” We desire to be a church that honors these words. The blessing of children can be understood in two ways. We see children as a blessing to our community and place a strong priority on including them fully into the life of the church and acknowledging their unique role. We also take seriously our calling to bless the children through prayer, teaching, worship, and other forms of encouragement. This value also plays a role in our understanding and practice of Baptism as it relates to infants.

The Priority of a Balanced Life

Our culture is so busy and inundated with conflicting messages about success and responsibility that it is often hard to know how to prioritize our time. We believe that as we let our faith in Christ influence every aspect of our lives, He helps us to achieve balance. While we desire to see our members involved in giving of their time and service to help the community, we also want to help combat the burn out and stress that is so apparent in many overworked people. We want to be a community which gives people the freedom to say no when they need to protect precious time for family, leisure, and spiritual growth.