My Church

Core Values

Core values affirm what is ultimately meaningful to the Community of Christ. These values express who we are. They are something like a personality profile. Our core values communicate the heart of our tradition. With them we share how God has shaped us and what we sense God calling us to be.

The Centrality of Jesus Christ

Jesus' life, ministry, and teachings; his death, resurrection, and living presence are the foundation of our movement. Our scriptures and worship point to him; the kingdom he preached energizes our desire for transformation in the world.

Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

—I Corinthians 8:6

"Connected in Fellowship"

This describes the sense of belonging to one another we experience as a people. It is evident in the kinship we feel with church members we have never met. We recognize that we are a worldwide community knit together by the Holy Spirit.

We declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

—I John 1:3

The Experience of the Prophetic Spirit

The Holy Spirit's power inspired the prophets, anointed Jesus at his baptism, and empowered the church at Pentecost. The church affirms that the Spirit of God continues to call, challenge, change, and direct us today.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets.

—I Thessalonians 5:19-20

The Worth of Each Person

Christ's death is for all people. This means that every person is loved by God, no exceptions! The church is called to affirm the worth of people, to be an inclusive fellowship, and to work for human wellbeing in every setting.

So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

—Matthew 10:31

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

—John 3:16-17

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

—Romans 15:7

The Ministry of All Members

We uphold that each member of the community has been called to share in the church's ministry. The Spirit blesses and empowers each one (no exceptions) with gifts that are needed to bring about God's purposes for the world.

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate in cheerfulness.

—Romans 12:4-8

The Consecration of Our Whole Life

We yearn to offer the whole of our life to the cause of Christ. Experience and scripture testify that how we treat the world's people and resources, our gifts and talents, our strengths and weaknesses, our possessions and time, matters to God.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

—Romans 12:1

The Transforming Impulse

In our church's experience, the Christian life is about working with God's Spirit to transform the world into God's kingdom on earth.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

—James 1:27

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

—Titus 2:11-14

Expectation of New Things

God continues to surprise us, leading us into new paths of service and revealing new truths about the world, ourselves, and God's work.

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

—Isaiah 43:18-19

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

—John 16:12-13