From the beginning, our mission has been bigger than ourselves. We’ve always believed that our experiments—our risks, our mistakes, and our discoveries—were meant to serve the wider Church.

Some of what we do here is unique. But much of it translates easily to other congregations. In every case, our founding purpose still holds: everything we do is for the transformation of the Episcopal Church.

Sometimes I worry that this sounds arrogant. That’s never the intention. Our hope is that every congregation is helping every other to grow into healthier, more vibrant communities of service in God’s Mission. What we offer is simply our share of that work.

Here’s some of what we’ve discovered over the years.

Beauty Is Transformative

We’ve learned that beauty in worship changes lives.

Our particular aesthetic may not be shared by most Episcopal churches—and that’s fine. What matters is not the style, but the commitment to beauty itself. Every congregation already has values around beauty, whether conscious or unconscious. Naming them makes us better.

Being mindful of beauty creates space for transformation.

Welcome the Stranger

We’ve also discovered that placing a priority on the way we welcome strangers is transformative.

At St. Gregory’s, we welcome people without requiring them to conform to our culture. We try to stay mindful of the first-time visitor and to put their experience at the center of worship, community life, and formation.

Of course, authentic welcome looks different in different places.

What matters is authenticity.

Friends, Not Insiders and Outsiders

We welcome skeptics, seekers, and nonbelievers. There is no litmus test for belonging at St. Gregory’s. Despite our range of theologies, we share one thing in common: a desire to live as God’s friends.

This means we resist dividing people into “insiders” and “outsiders.” For us, God has already established everyone as beloved.

Every congregation can strive toward this. Living in God’s friendship transforms us.

God breaks down divisions, makes us new, and calls us into a new kind of life together.

Joining God’s Mission

Over the past 21 years as St. Gregory’s priest, I’ve come to see a place radically committed to God’s Mission in the world. We are confident that God is already at work out there—and we are invited to share in that work.

I have experienced this community as a place that shows something new about how to know God, and how to follow in God’s dance in the world.

As our mission statement says: we sing and dance to Jesus lead.

We Exist for Those Not Yet Here

Perhaps the most important thing we’ve learned is this: we exist for those who have not yet come through our doors.

God established this congregation for strangers and seekers, for the prepared and the unprepared, for the righteous and the impious.

And God is still using our work—our beauty, our welcome, our friendships—to change the way other congregations do their work.

St. Gregory’s belongs to the future—built for the stranger, the skeptic, the seeker, and the friend we haven’t yet met.

“Even at our founding, we were ready to change the world.”