Our Vocation:
To Serve and Preserve

In the opening chapters of Genesis, God has given our primary vocation: to serve and preserve the earth (and all it contains). This biblical calling grounds, literally, everything we do. 

Albert Schweitzer once said, ""Without question, the only ones who will find happiness in this world are those who have sought and found opportunities to serve." To this end, our Discipleship Committee regularly discerns what God is leading us to dare and do, and seeks opportunities for every member to be of service to the new creation God is even now bringing forth. 

We have identified climate change, structural racism and systemic inequality as the three deadly challenges that our faith calls us to confront in this time and place.

Through mission partnerships, local ministries, advocacy and financial support, our church endeavors to be a force for resistance and an agent of change. Using the model of See-Think-Act, developed in liberation theology, we explore these three challenges and how they intersect.  We then meet them with our values

• learning from 300+ year history;
• living sustainably;
• promoting human dignity; and
• building community;

to identify places where we can make a real difference in our community, our world, and for the earth itself. Will you join us?

Climate Change

We have made a congregational commitment that, starting right now, we will learn to live responsibly on God’s earth, to dedicate our lives to correcting those natural, corporate and human systems that have placed our planet in such precarity, and that we will raise the youngest generation of Christians to do likewise. Through our investment in solar energy, mission partnerships, and advocacy, we are living out our vocation to care for the earth.

STRUCTURAL Racism

In the last couple of years we have learned to pray with our feet. When a march is called in support of #BlackLivesMatter, our clergy and members show up and speak out. When we needed a strong show of support for our immigrant neighbors, and to resist deportations based on religion, we were there. When the Standing Rock Sioux called for help, we answered. Through marches, demonstrations, showing up and speaking out, we are living out our vocation to love our neighbor.

SYSTEMIC Inequality

Many church ministries address the immediate and emergency needs in our community. Our tag sales, thrift shop, food donations and prayer ministry offer concrete ways of offering assistance and presence in times of need. At the same time, we train ourselves for public witness and advocate alongside the Presbyterian Church (USA), Heifer International, and Bread for the World to end hunger and poverty. In this way we are living out our vocation to seek God's reign.