At Valleyview we welcome people with a diverse range of perspectives and beliefs and from a wide range of backgrounds. But as a community we do have certain emphases.
WE EMPHASIZE:
- Jesus Christ as the One sent by God to bring reconciliation between the Creator and a broken world. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God entered the world in a unique way to bring salvation to all peoples.
- Centrality and inspiration of the Bible – The Bible is the story of God’s interaction with humanity. It contains accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Christ. It tells of the birth of the church. In all of these ways, the Bible is fundamental to understanding God and our relationship to the divine. We each come to the Bible with our own backgrounds and beliefs. Therefore, the Bible needs to be interpreted together, in conversation with a community, and with careful attention to the movement of the Holy Spirit.
- Discernment – We understand the centrality of striving to discern God’s will for us as individuals and as a church community. Together we seek to listen to the Holy Spirit and to recognize who God is calling us to be.
- Christian discipleship – There is an essential connection between faith, words and actions. As Christians we are followers of Christ. We look to the example of Jesus for how to live our lives. Faith must be expressed in action.
- Peace and Justice – Central to our understanding of God is that God is a God of peace and of justice. Therefore, we are called to be people of peace and justice. This expresses itself in personal pacifism as well as active peacemaking and justice-making efforts. We strive to challenge injustice and reduce violence wherever we find it.
- Adult Baptism – We practice baptism upon mature confession of faith. Acknowledging that everyone is on their own journey of relationship with God from birth, we believe that each person has the opportunity to make an individual, voluntary commitment to Jesus Christ expressed within the context of a supportive community of faith.
- Community – Jesus invited people into community. We believe that our emphasis on community is one of the gifts the church has to offer our society of individualism and isolation. We strive to build a community where we can share the joys and challenges of life with each other while struggling together to discern God’s will for us.
- Service – We desire to be part of sharing the good news of God’s love through service to all in need, both in our community and around the world. Many of us volunteer locally, nationally, and internationally. In a recent congregational survey, respondents listed 52 different places where they volunteered outside of the congregation.
- Worship – Central to who we are as Christians is our communal worship of the living God. It is in our praise, our confession, our thanksgiving, our proclamation, our praying and our lament that we build our relationship with our Creator. We have varying levels of musical training and skill, but we all celebrate music in worship, particularly the tradition of hymn singing in parts. We seek to include expressions of the arts and drama, and we also strive to include music from around the world.
- Lay participation in leadership – We believe in the active participation and leadership of all people in the life of the church.