Our vision is to be the "CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS"

     God is not somewhere up in the sky; he’s living his life in and through us, the body of Christ, in the neighborhoods where we live, the places we work and play, and the people we come across each day.
                                               Jim Palmer, Wide Open Spaces

What this means to us:

    1. PHYSICAL WALLS -We don’t have a church building.  We believe the word “church” refers to the people who follow Jesus, not some special place where they meet.  George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, gave the same message to people in his day:
            So I opened to the people that the ground and house was no holier than any other place, and that the house was not the church, but the people of which Christ is the head

   2.  TRADITIONAL WALLS - We follow the example set for us by Jesus who didn’t try to get people to come to the temple or some other sacred space, but instead went out into the world sharing the good news of the kingdom of God and showing the love of God in word and deed, and who calls us to go and do the same.  We are not called to GO  to church, but rather to BE the church.

          Let all the nations hear the sound by word and writing.  Spare no place, spare no tongue or pen, but be obedient to the Lord God; go forth through the world and be valiant for the Truth upon earth . . . Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every man
 
                                                 George Fox’s advice to ministers

 

  3.  DIVIDING WALLS -Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5 that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation.”  Rather than putting up fences and obstacles that separate people from the love of God, we join with Jesus in tearing down the walls that divide us and proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God is here and now and open to any and all who will receive it.

      Much depends on the spirit in which the visitor enters her work.  She must not say in her heart I am better than thee, but must constantly keep in mind that ‘all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’

Elizabeth Frye, speaking of her work in Newgate Prison