Core values
t. Peter’s is built around the core values of celebration, communion, sanctification, service, and blessing. Based on historic Christianity, these values serve as the foundation of our ministry at St. Peter’s.
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CELEBRATION |
As Christians have done throughout the ages, we come together each week to hear the Bible read and taught to us in order to celebrate God’s story, power, wisdom, and glory. We worship God in the retelling and celebration of the Lord's great deeds. The people of God were instructed to tell continually the stories of God's wonderful works. So also, early Christians gathered together on a weekly basis to continue in the apostles teachings and to hear these stories. For the past 2,000 years of Church history, Christians have gathered together on a weekly basis to celebrate God’s goodness, as found in Holy Scripture. The reading and hearing of Scripture always featured prominently in these services. Following the tradition of the earliest Christians — as collected in the Book of Common Prayer— we at St. Peter’s gather together using a historic liturgical style of celebration and prayer that showcases the Word of God. In our service, you will hear a majority of the Scriptures read over a three-year period. Through the reading of Scripture, we are able to celebrate God’s goodness and glory. |
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COMMUNION |
God created us in his image that we might reflect his glory by communing with him. However, we as humans turned away from God. We separated ourselves from him. And so, God came to earth to die on the cross to bring us back to himself. God’s desire is that all people would become united with him and part of his family, the church, and he designed us to commune with him. We come into God’s family by being baptized. Through water, we are baptized into Christ’s death so that we might rise with him in his resurrection. We continue as members of God’s family by partaking of the meal that Christ gave to us. Following the weekly pattern of the earliest Christians, we at St. Peter’s come together each Sunday as a family to reunite with our Lord Jesus Christ by partaking of his Body and Blood (Acts 20:7) just as he instructed (John 6:53-56). |
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SANCTIFICATION |
All creation was made to worship and glorify God — from the stars in the sky to the trees that wave their hands to you and me who were created in God's image. God created the world and said it was good. The problem is that much of creation has been twisted and used to glorify humanity. You can see this in the sky scrapers, in music, in mechanics, in people. Jesus came to this earth and took on human flesh in order to reclaim the good creation that had gone bad. As Christians our goal is to follow Christ’s teaching and redeem creation, to sanctify and use it to for its original purpose—to glorify God. God is to be worshiped in and through all things. At St. Peter’s, we seek to worship God in our artwork, music, craftsmanship, and ourselves — striving for excellence and beauty in all that we do. Together, we grow in beauty and our ability to praise God by following the examples of Jesus Christ who met often with a small group of guys and the earliest Christians who met in house groups. We seek to be formed more fully into the image and beauty of Christ through regular meetings of community groups, in which we study the Bible and care for one another; retreats, where we get away together to grow in the faith; and ministry teams, through which we work together. The purpose of all of this is that through being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we may glorify God.
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SERVICE Serving God by Serving Others |
God gave himself to us by coming down to this earth and taking on human flesh so that he could give himself up for us. He demonstrated this sacrificial love for the disciples on the night before he was killed by humbling himself, taking a towel, and washing his disciples’ feet. He then gave a new commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.” We are to follow Christ’s example of service by humbling ourselves and serving one another. As the body of Christ, each of us at St. Peter’s has an important part to play in partnering with God in his work. We believe that each person should be involved in ministry and have a place of service, both in the church and outside of the church — whether that is as a volunteer at Stewart’s Creek Elementary, the local school we partner with; serving in the children’s ministry of St. Peter’s; or hosting a community group. We are here to love through service. |
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BLESSING Blessing all People through Jesus Christ |
All through the Bible, God’s desire to bless all people is evident, beginning with the first man and woman and continuing through Abraham whose descendants God explicitly promised would bless all people. That great blessing would ultimately come through Jesus Christ and would continue to be extended through his body, the Church that would and does bring the good news to all people. Through difficulty and hardship, change and struggle, St. Peter’s has never given up but continues to dream big and take the risks needed to partner with God in his work here on earth. We believe that we have yet to complete the task of sharing Christ’s love in this community. We are eager to be a blessing by giving generously of our finances and freely sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others. Our desire is to be a blessing to all people. |