We are committed to celebrating, embodying, and enacting this good news of God’s new creation, both individually and communally. We seek to respond to this good news by receiving God’s gift of new life in Christ, turning from our sins, entrusting ourselves to God’s loving care and saving power, and pursuing the goodness, beauty, truth, justice, and love of God’s new creation in all that we do and say. As we grow in awareness of the brokenness and needed transformation in our relationships, priorities, and attitudes, as well as in our city and world, we seek also to grow in our dependence on Jesus Christ, whose resurrection life is the hope for humanity and all of creation.

We are committed to practicing dependence upon God’s Spirit and to holding a posture of humility, expectancy, openness, and trust in the living God who meets us and changes us into the likeness of Christ. God’s Spirit is dynamic and inexplicable, so we are committed to embracing mystery and wonder in our worship and life with God. Yet, God’s Spirit nourishes us through ordinary “means of grace,” so we commit to seeking the Spirit especially through the Scriptures, prayer, and the sacraments.

We are committed to participating with Jesus in God’s mission to restore shalom to humanity and all of creation, embracing both the goal (universal shalom) and the means (self-giving love) of God’s mission as we see them displayed in the life of Jesus. God’s vision of shalom compels and shapes our worship, life together, and activity in the world, re-orienting our imagination and hope towards God’s new creation of shalom. We, therefore, seek to embody and extend this shalom in all the places we inhabit, engaging our work and relationships as co-laborers with God, called to cultivate life, beauty, goodness, justice, and peace in God’s world.

We are committed to embracing the unity of the Church as a reality God has created in Christ and in which God calls us to participate by faith. This commitment to unity shapes our relations both outwardly and inwardly. Looking outwardly, we celebrate the unity of Christ’s Church by anchoring our life and ministry in the historic Christian faith, joining in the witness and work of the global Church, and partnering with other congregations and ministries in Philadelphia to bless this city. Looking inwardly, we practice our God-given unity by bearing with one another in love, making space for different Christ-centered paths of discipleship, supporting one another as we journey together toward Christ and Christlikeness, and ever expanding the loving community to include our neighbors.

We are committed to participating in dialogue that enlarges and extends the conversation rather than narrows or ends it. When we recognize both our own finitude and the God-given dignity of our neighbors, we are compelled to engage one another with grace, curiosity, and a desire for deeper mutual understanding. We welcome questions and new insights from people of all different views, backgrounds, and experiences, and we seek to engage conversations about life and faith with mutual respect, attentive listening, and intellectual humility. We trust that such discussion will lead to a deepening sense of wonder and connection as we discover together more of God’s truth, beauty, and activity in the world.

We are committed to creating space for real relationships, pursuing ever-deepening spiritual friendships with one another, and sharing life as a genuine community of individuals who know, enjoy, and care for one another - praying for one another, rejoicing and weeping together, bearing one another's burdens, sharpening one another towards Christlikeness, and serving the world out of the depth of these relationships. We are also committed to living in relationships of solidarity with our city and neighbors, seeking to know, understand, and participate in the neighborhoods and communities in which God has placed us.

We are committed to sharing among all the members of Christ’s Body the responsibilities Jesus has given to the Church - to love God and neighbor, prayerfully seek God’s kingdom, and steward our God-given gifts and resources in joyful service to Christ. We believe God calls women and men to serve as leaders, pastors, and teachers in the Church, to equip the Body’s many members for the work of ministry. We seek to affirm the gifts and vocations of every individual and support them as they seek to live faithfully according to God’s calling.