Parkview Church Vision Statement
Parkview Church serves as a vital growing force for life, love, hope, peace, justice, and reconciliation. We strive to grow personally and spiritually through our worship, fellowship, and relationships inside and outside the walls of our Church. We are committed to make a difference in our church community and the world.
Our Five Covenants
We the members of Parkview Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, declare ourselves to be an inclusive and affirming congregation, welcoming all persons unconditionally as full members of our fellowship. We do not wish to discriminate against any person, whatever his or her status in life (race, ethnic identity, age, gender, sexual orientation, economic circumstances, physical and mental ability or impairment, or theological perspective) might be.
We declare Parkview Church to be a Whole Earth Church affirming our ongoing concern for conservation of our resources, educating its members in conservation methods, and participating in programs aimed at health and wholeness of our planet and its creatures. We commit ourselves to honoring God’s creation by seeking way to help educate others, practicing wise stewardship of God’s earth, providing outreach in the community for Whole Earth concerns and giving thanks to God in worship. We covenant with God and with one another to live as a people of God’s creation and to work to restore balance and beauty to this planet.
We declare Parkview Congregational Church to be a Just Peace Church. We affirm our concern for diversity, community, respect for persons, and the right use of resources. We commit ourselves to seeking non-violent ways to deal with conflict, providing a healthy environment for the nurture of children, and advocating for justice. We covenant with God and with one another to live as a people of hope and compassion in our homes, our congregation, our community, our nation, and the world.
We the members of Parkview Congregational Church affirm these Eight Points of Progressive Christianity. Progressive Christians are believers who:
- Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus;
- Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God’s realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us;
- Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus’ name to be a representation of an ancient vision of God’s feast for all people;
- Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable (including but not limited to):
- Believers and agnostics, conventional Christians and questioning skeptics
- Women and men, those of all sexual orientations and gender identities
- Those of all races and cultures
- Those of all classes and abilities
- Those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope;
- Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe;
- Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty – more value in questioning than in absolutes;
- Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God’s creation, and bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers;
- Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.
Having freely united in the fellowship of Christ’s Church, and acknowledging our need for the continuing guidance of the Holy Spirit, we covenant with God and with one another, binding ourselves in the promise, whatsoever it shall cost us, to conduct our lives according to the precepts revealed in the Holy Scripture, entering into Christ’s Mission, sharing in the worship of Our Lord and striving to make God’s will dominant in the lives of all people.
We are affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC), a distinct and diverse community of Christians that come together as one Church to join faith and action. With over 5,000 churches and nearly one million members across the United States, UCC serves God in the co-creation of a just and sustainable world. UCC is a Church of firsts, a Church of extravagant welcome, and a Church where “…they may all be one” (John 17:21).
We believe in a God that is still speaking, a God that is all-loving and inclusive. We are a Church that welcomes and accepts everyone as they are, where your mind is nourished as much as your soul. We are a church where Jesus the healer meets Jesus the revolutionary, and where together, we grow a just and peaceful world.
Open and Affirming (ONA) is the United Church of Christ’s (UCC) designation for congregations, campus ministries, and other bodies in the UCC which make a public covenant of welcome into their full life and ministry to persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. Parkview is proud to be an ONA church.
Parkview Ministry Teams
The business and activities of our church are managed by our Core Ministry Teams.
Guidance Ministry
Responsible for the visioning, guidance, attending to the well-being of each Core Ministry Team, and ensuring accountability and responsibility to the goals and purpose of the faith community.
Operations Ministry
Oversees fiduciary ministries, property ministries, communication ministries, and record keeping.
Worship and Prayer Ministry
Supports the spiritual life of the faith community through worship and prayer.
Evangelism Ministry
Generates public awareness of the presence and purpose of Parkview Church.
Hospitality Ministry
Provides welcome, social interaction, and activities for Parkview members, friends, and the wider community.
Broader Church Ministry
Connects us to our denominational, ecumenical, and interfaith communities.