City On A Hill

In a divided society — by race, by class, by gender, and in New York sometimes even by neighborhood — the church should be a place where the divisions are answered in Jesus Christ. But too often the church only reflects them. Jesus calls his people to be a city on a hill: a community whose care for one another models, in the middle of a divided world, the difference Jesus makes.

We are gathering to be a church that takes that calling seriously. A church for God first — and from that, for one another, for the city, and for the world God so loved. A church that offers the life this city cannot give and the solidarity it longs to see, by the power of the gospel.

This vision is realized through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. The gospel is the power of God for salvation. The individual is set free from the power of sin that distorts the divine image, and is restored and renewed to the fullness of God's image in Jesus Christ. The church is the community created by the gospel for the affirmation of the dignity of all, and for the restoration and renewal of the image of God in those who believe. And our civil society is influenced by the gospel as citizens of the kingdom of heaven affirm the dignity of every person and work to cultivate institutions, laws, and organizations that honor and preserve that image in all. At City On A Hill, we order our common life around four formation practices — the ordinary means through which the gospel restores and renews us.