About Us

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Beliefs

Countryside Community Church is a fully inclusive Christian community that believes

  • in the love and graciousness of God, that practices the teachings of Jesus and the Bible, and that relies on the guidance of the Holy Spirit
  • ‘God is still speaking’ and works to make the ways of God relevant today
  • there are many paths to God, and invite people to journey with us on their spiritual quest
  • in the power of people of faith and good will working together to improve our community, nation, and world
  • in an inclusive church where all are welcome to come to discern, belong, and grow

Countryside Sunrise

Many in our congregation have found that the Phoenix Affirmations resonate with their faith experience.  The Phoenix Affirmations are twelve principles of Christian faith, developed by pastors, laypeople, theologians and biblical scholars across many denominational traditions, which are organized around the Three Great Loves identified by Jesus: love of God, neighbor, and self.  The Phoenix Affirmations are not a creed, and therefore make no claim to determine “authentic” from “inauthentic” Christian belief.  They are simply a set of affirmations that many have found helpful on their spiritual journey.  The Phoenix Affirmations state:

Christian love of God includes:

1. Walking fully in the path of Jesus, without denying the legitimacy of other paths that God may provide for humanity;

2. Listening for God’s Word which comes through daily prayer and meditation, studying the ancient testimonies which we call Scripture, and attending to God’s present activity in the world;

3. Celebrating the God whose Spirit pervades and whose glory is reflected in all of God’s Creation, including the earth and its ecosystems, the sacred and secular, the Christian and non-Christian, the human and non-human;

4. Expressing our love in worship that is as sincere, vibrant, and artful as it is scriptural.

Christian love of neighbor includes:

5. Engaging people authentically, as Jesus did, treating all as creations made in God’s very image, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental ability, nationality, or economic class;

6. Standing, as Jesus does, with the outcast and oppressed, the denigrated and afflicted, seeking peace and justice with or without the support of others;

7. Preserving religious freedom and the church’s ability to speak prophetically to government by resisting the commingling of church and state;

8. Walking humbly with God, acknowledging our own shortcomings while honestly seeking to understand and call forth the best in others, including those who consider us their enemies;

Christian love of self includes:

9. Basing our lives on the faith that in Christ all things are made new and that we, and all people, are loved beyond our wildest imagination – for eternity;

10. Claiming the sacredness of both our minds and our hearts, and recognizing that faith and science, doubt and belief serve the pursuit of truth;

11. Caring for our bodies and insisting on taking time to enjoy the benefits of prayer, reflection, worship, and recreation in addition to work;

12. Acting on the faith that we are born with a meaning and purpose; a vocation and ministry that serve to strengthen and extend God’s realm of love.

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