Our Family Distinctives

We’re thankful you’re here learning more about our church family! Like any other family, there are some unique customs, traditions, or practices that make us who we are. Check out what makes our family unique, or, better yet, come meet us in person. We’d love to meet you!

Gospel Centered

Our church is centered on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We tell the story about how God has chosen to heal the world and everything in it from the effects of sin, death, and evil through the death and resurrection of King Jesus. Every Sunday morning, our book with the Gospels is paraded out into the midst of the people, as a symbol of Jesus’ willingness to take on flesh and dwell among us. We believe that the entirety of Holy Scripture tells the story of Jesus and that none of it is rightly understood unless it points us to the story of his victory through the Cross (Luke 24:27). We also believe the Scriptures ought to be read aloud, not simply referenced in the middle of a sermon. So, we read from four different passages of the Bible each week: One reading from the Old Testament, a second from the Psalms, a third from either a New Testament Epistle or Acts of the Apostles, and a fourth from the Gospel, before we hear the Word expounded upon in the sermon. We devote a lot of the time we spend in Church to reading and reflecting on the Gospel story in both the Old and New Testaments, and every bit of our worship is centered on telling that story.

Embodied in Ancient Liturgy

Our worship is not simply about what we do in our hearts, but it has flesh and bones on it. It is meant to be participatory, where the people of God aren’t spectators, but active participants in worship. We will stand, sit, or kneel at different points in our worship. We have prayers that we say all together, and our worship is filled with call and response, where the leader and the people will pray together. Every Sunday, we celebrate the Eucharist, where we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, given to us miraculously through ordinary bread and wine. We believe that the Gospel transforms all of creation, so we are meant to worship him and receive blessing in the physical world he has made. This type of worship is best experienced in person, like learning different steps in synchronized choreography. We have printed bulletins that make it easy for people to follow along.

Multi- Generational

Someone may ask, are you a young church or an old church? The answer is yes. Our church has worshippers in their nineties, worshippers who are nursing, and a decent smattering of every age group in between. We intentionally have all these people in the same room, worshipping together. We love having kiddos bouncing around our church, and even though it makes our worship gatherings a bit more unruly, we think the absolute best way to raise up disciples of Jesus is to have them open a hymnal next to their moms and dads, even before they can read. We have a lesson for the young ones (about 10 and under) during the homily, but for almost the entire service, these kids worship along with their families. Older parishioners also relate with our services, and participate in the liturgy right along with the babies, offering wonderful gifts of mentoring and decades of life experience of walking with Jesus. If you come to a Mass, you could be offered the Peace of the Lord from a seventy-five year old retired man right before you’re greeted by a three year old, chased by his tired mama, trying to remind him to stop running in church. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it’s amazing. Just like we like it.

Spiritual Family

We are more than a group of individuals, who happen to worship in the same building. We are a spiritual family. Like many of the Christian churches in Utah, we span a pretty vast geographical area, spread out by over 100 miles. This doesn’t stop us from developing deep connections to one other. You may find us gathering at Father James’ house for a pancake dinner on Shrove Tuesday, eating together in a local park, taking in a Bees Game, praying Compline with the young adults, having tea with the women at Christmastime, or enjoying a cigar with the young men. Our goal is to be more than fellow church goers. We want to be a welcoming family. If you come and meet us, you will be warmly greeted by many of us, and perhaps invited to grab a bite to eat after church. We love inviting people to be part of the family, so come check us out!