WHAT WE BELIEVE

Evergreen is an open and affirming faith community rooted in the Way of Jesus. We grow through spiritual practices that nourish the individual and cultivate a more compassionate world.

The Church is still in the process of becoming. At Evergreen, we are discovering the next church, for our congregation, for our denomination, for future generations. We believe experimentation, flexibility, and playfulness are helping to birth new expressions of Christian spirituality today. In that calling, we also remain committed to some core values.

We believe people belong first. No matter what. We are committed to creating community that welcomes people alongside one another in shared spiritual practice. Eventually, we all arrive at belief. And we're energized if our belief is really different from our neighbors' beliefs.

We practice spirituality together because it bears new life. We affirm that communion with God/the Divine comes in many forms, and we gather people around various expressions of spirituality that lead to life.

We know that the inner life informs life-connected and our life-connected shapes the inner life. And so it is important that we tend to both the individual and our shared life in our ministry.

We believe solitude can be life-giving but we want to dispel isolation, so we practice our spirituality alone and together.

We trust that together we can powerfully impact our local community and world, and so we take action together for justice, healing, and mercy in the world.

We also love the heritage of our faith, which has shaped the identity of this community for more than a century. We trust that both our roots and our changing environment can bring new life to the church.

We experience the Practices of Jesus to be a path in the world that leads to a flourishing life.

We also affirm the world that is becoming ever more blended, as people, culture, and religion mix as never before. We are invigorated by the blending of Christianity, as our tradition mixes with and is strengthened by other traditions. We practice compassionate existence in the midst of this global transition.

Finally, we practice joy together. We trust the whimsical and playful movement of the Spirit, knowing that ultimately it, too, helps us to be more free.