Beliefs & Practices

Our covenant

As a community of God’s people, we receive with joy God’s gracious love.
In response, we join in worship and praise
and make this covenant with God and with each other.

We affirm our faith in God, the source
of life and love, the Sovereign of the world.
We commit ourselves to follow Jesus Christ, who redeems,
reconciles, and reveals God to us.
We invite God’s Spirit to transform, empower and guide us,
as together we discern and follow God’s word.

We pledge to nurture and care for each other and
call out the gifts of each person.
We repent of sin, both private and social, and join God’s plan for
healing the earth and bringing peace and justice to its people.
We accept God’s call to share the good news of redeeming love,
and invite others to faith in Christ and membership in his church.

We encourage and pray for each other as we live out this covenant
in hope for the time when God brings all of creation to its fullness in Christ.
-Covenant: adopted March 1993

Assembly practices

We believe our Covenant calls us to the following practices in this time and context:

1. Active participation in congregational life
   1. Worship – God calls us to be the church; not an audience. We encourage participants to nurture gifts for teaching, preaching, leading and otherwise contributing to our corporate worship.
   2. Discernment – members share responsibility for discerning the direction of the congregation in congregational meetings and in other discernment venues.
   3. Community building – small group participation is one important way we build community and invite others into the life of the congregation.
2. Ongoing spiritual formation
   1. Spiritual practices – in addition to participation in Sunday worship, we engage other avenues of spiritual growth such as practicing spiritual disciplines; attending spiritual retreats; meeting with a spiritual director; and regularly reviewing our stewardship of time, money, gifts, and other facets of faithful living.
   2. Nurturing children – we seek to lead children to faith by the Christ-like love, care, and model we offer the young among us.
   3. Spiritual journey – we encourage each other to publicly claim and proclaim faith in God, and we also grant each other the freedom necessary for real searching and questioning.
   4. Giving and receiving counsel – we believe we are not an island unto ourselves but need the larger body of Christ for our mutual growth.
3. Acting on our commitment to biblical peace, nonviolence, and justice
   1. Relationships – our commitment to peace begins with fostering healthy relationships. We commit to practicing Christian love and faithfulness in our primary relationships, supporting healthy marriages and families, and seeking reconciliation in situations of brokenness.
   2. Economics – we seek to follow God by growing in grace and generosity, releasing more of our financial resources, and contributing an extra 2 % of our income as partial restitution to the exploited people of the world.
   3. Creation care – we commit to better understanding our impact on God’s creation and acting to reduce the adverse effects of our actions.
   4. Justice for oppressed people – we advocate for concerns local and global, act on our biblical convictions against war/militarism, and are a congregation which seeks inclusion for our LGBTQ siblings.

The points listed under each practice are not meant to define the totality of how we engage a particular practice.  They are meant to highlight key aspects of that practice to which members are committed.  Also, we intend for this list of practices to be periodically reviewed and for changes to be made as we discern new ways in which God is calling us to faithful discipleship.
– Assembly Practices: adopted April 2010

Welcome statement

As a reconciling faith community, Assembly Mennonite Church seeks to follow Jesus’ example by welcoming all who come our way, regardless of age, economic or social circumstances, ethnic background, gender, marital status, physical ability, race, or sexual orientation.
-Welcome Statement: adopted Dec 1999

Mission statement

Assembly Mennonite Church seeks to be a dynamic Christian community by together meeting God who draws us beyond ourselves into nurturing, sharing, and living the good news of God’s love as known in Jesus Christ.
-Mission Statement: adopted June 1997

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