Jesus was a Brown-skinned, Palestinian, Jewish, community organizing peasant who challenged religious authority and opposed the Roman Empire. He was executed publicly by a police state, and rose again in a demonstration of both God's glory and the promise that there is resurrection and hope on the other side of suffering and death. Jesus's life, teachings, resurrection, and relationship with us all contribute to our liberation - both here and now from the modern empires and forces of evil in the world, and into eternity in the kingdom of God.

God the creator made us out of love, for love. Jesus the Revolutionary leads us into the radical love which levels empires and builds kingdoms. The Spirit of Power breathes life into our being and enables us to do the work of love and liberation in the world alongside Her.

The Bible is not a single book, but a library containing works of many genres. These poems, letters, myths, histories, legal documents, apocalyptic writings and more create a rich tapestry of God's wisdom as received and understood by the people of God throughout history. We interpret these scriptures beginning with the teachings of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels by intentionally reading from the margins - that is, beginning as Jesus did with the experience and needs of those who have been harmed or excluded most centered.

Just like God, who is three-in-one, creation was made to be in loving connected relationship. As human beings, that means we long to have a healthy connection to ourselves, our neighbors (including the earth and all its creatures), and God. Where right relationship has been broken or lost, we grieve and strive to heal and repair the wounds. We call anything that causes those wounds, from individual choices to systemic oppression, by the name "sin." The longing we all have for accountability, reparations, healing, and connection is a longing for a collective liberation from the wounds of sin.

We are called to follow Jesus in all ways - following the teachings of his life, the faithfulness of his death, and the promise of his resurrection. The Good News of Jesus shows us the abundance of God’s provision through communalism in contrast to the messages of scarcity and hoarding found in capitalism. The eternal life to which we are called begins here and now through joining Jesus's work of liberating all people from oppression and celebrating the fullness of life however we can together.

We know that BIPOC people, LGBTQ folx, disabled people, and all those harmed by oppression are made in the image of God. Jesus himself had an intersectional identity of oppression; he was Brown-skinned, a refugee, a day laborer, and a Palestinian Jew under the occupation of Rome. In his ministry, he placed a clear priority on the needs of those even more marginalized than he was, including women, those considered foreign in his community, and people with disabilities. Like Jesus, we seek to center those who have been most marginalized. We must not only do so as we work for justice in the streets and halls of power, but also in the interpersonal spaces of our community as a church. Solidarity is the holy work of restoring right relationship.

We know that some have been so wounded by the sins of the church that they need to take space away from the church, and we honor that just as God does. We also believe that discerning the truth of scripture, deepening a relationship with God, and healing the world through the work of liberation is best done in community. In community, there is often doubt, disagreement, and dialogue, which we view to be wonderful gifts that protect us from rigidity and help us to always consider collective experiences and points of view.