1
The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet.
We believe that the people of God should tell better stories, produce better movies, write better books, compose better music, draft better legislation, paint better paintings—because we are the image of God in the world.
This is the mission God gives to his image bearers. He challenges us to develop the social order, grow families, form schools, build businesses, form governments, write laws. And then He challenges us to build the cultural world, to tell stories, to write songs, to fill the universe with beauty and goodness that declares his truth in poetry, in film, in art.
He invites us to explore and to protect and harness the natural world. Plant crops, discover cures for diseases, explore the tallest mountain and the deepest oceans, learn how to find sustainable uses for the natural resources He’s put on thisplanet.
2
The church ought to be the most diverse place on the planet.
God has called us to live as the beloved community, in unity with one another. We believe that being image bearers means that all people, regardless of age, ability, family of origin, culture, language, have inherent worth and dignity that is given by God. It is not earned, it is not assigned, it is given by God himself.
When we look at people and we see them as God’s image bearers, it changes the way we feel about them, changes the way we feel about ourselves, changes the way we see God. We are Black, brown, and white. We are Republican, Democrat, and Independent. We are rich, poor, and in between. We are as different as different can be, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our diversity is an expression of God’s creativity. It’s evidence of a God who made us absolutely unique. It’s evidence that something is happening here that goes beyond political ideology, beyond ethnic identity, beyond cultural affinity.
3
The church belongs in the middle of the marketplace.
We are a sent people. God has planted us at the crossroads of the nation’s capital, that like Paul in the Areopagus in Athens or the Agora in Thessaloniki, he has positioned us and called us to shine his light, to be his representative, to be his sent people right at the heart of the nation’s capital. And so from there, we not only began to meet in marketplace environments, but to create marketplace environments like Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse, Miracle Theater, the Capital Turnaround. Wherever we can, we step into a crossroads where the community and the church can cross paths so that we can be a light and an encouragement and a sent people to every person that walks through these doors.
4
We seek the peace and prosperity of the city.
Since our earliest days, we have seen God bless us as a church in proportion to how we give to the mission and care for the poor in our city.
We partner with social services, governments, businesses, and schools to make our communities better places. We raise money through the Common Fund to meet direct and urgent needs of individuals. We launched the DC Dream Center to provide mentoring and tutoring and afterschool services and gives life skills and financial coaching so that we can create a place where hope becomes habit for all people. We have 50 global partners around the world. And when global crisis happens, we are able to reach out and to make a difference.