Who We Are

Meetinghouse Church is on a mission to grow in Christ and serve the world.

Our Story.

Founded in 1946, we’re a vibrant, independent, Congregational church that loves Jesus, cares for its neighbors, and refuses to separate the two.

Ministry Priorities.

Meet with Jesus.

Our Meetinghouse has long stood as a place to encounter Jesus and his love for us and be transformed by it as we discover our own belovedness. Following Jesus—discovering his love for us, being transformed by it, and embodying it in the world—is central to who we are. And while we are grounded in this relationship with Jesus, shaped by Scripture, and committed to listening to the Spirit, we honor the many expressions that faith takes in our congregation.

Meet with One Another.

As a Congregational church, we affirm that there is no one creed, identity, or way of embodying faith that completely defines us. Instead, we are held together by our commitment to follow Jesus and do so one with another. As Jesus’ followers, we affirm that all are equally beloved of God and aim to love one accordingly. So no matter your gender, race, age, class, ability, family composition, sexuality, politics, faith or lack thereof, Meetinghouse Church seeks to be a place for people of all creeds and identities to belong. More than tolerating difference as part of being Congregational, we celebrate it as a significant way God shows up in the world.

Meet with Our Neighbors.

“Who is my neighbor?” To us, following Jesus is a never-ending journey where we learn to expand who’s included in the answer. To meet our neighbors is an act of listening. And as we listen, we discover that they are people at the convergence of personal, familial, cultural, and political systems. Therefore, we seek to foster a flourishing life with and for our neighbors by recognizing where these systems can destroy life, and where we can work together to cultivate God’s kingdom here on earth. We do this because we believe that this is the call of the gospel in our time: to exemplify Jesus’ good news of the kingdom of flourishing life for everyone.

Our Core Values.

Welcome, Beloved.

For us, welcome begins with God. The story of Scripture hinges on Jesus, who is God becoming fully human and whose life, death, and resurrection represent a full embrace of our full humanity. Through Jesus, God calls us beloved. This belovedness isn’t just a doctrine. It’s an ongoing encounter as we journey with Jesus and each other. And it’s changing everything, from the way we see ourselves to the way we see our neighbors to the way we see Creation.

Risk the Messy Path of Faith.

Having to hide part of your story – no matter the reason – is painful and hard. We won’t always get it right, but we want to create a community that practices hospitality toward every part of each other’s story, no matter how difficult or complicated it is. As we extend God’s compassion toward our stories, our healing bears witness to the good news of Jesus and frees us to journey through the messy path of faith yet to be lived.

Wrestle with the Tensions in God’s Word & World.

Sometimes, the story of God and the stories going on around us feel worlds apart. We know the Church hasn’t always held space to respond honestly and faithfully to these tensions. So we’re learning to love the tensions, choosing discomfort if it means growth, embracing doubt if it means authenticity, and living the questions if it means transformation. We live among these tensions because we believe God still speaks here, forming us to love God, ourselves, and our neighbors more authentically.

Immerse in Sacred Spaces & Rhythms.

Deep inside, we all long for something infinite, something beyond ourselves, something larger than life itself. In the story of Scripture, we find an infinite God who has become fully present in human life. Not only that, we find that this God is always looking to become present in our life. We all experience God’s presence in different spaces and rhythms, and we don’t just tolerate that. We celebrate God’s creativity in it. Because of this, we become bold to name the spaces and rhythms where we experience God, whose presence forms us more deeply into the image of Christ for the sake of our neighbors.

Do Good, for Christ’s Sake.

As we read Scripture, we find that loving God and loving our neighbor aren’t two separate buckets. By loving God, we learn to love the people that God has made. And when we don’t love our neighbors well, it helps us see that we haven’t fully received God’s love for ourselves. Throughout our history, God’s love compels us to move toward our neighbors, our world, and toward Creation itself. Like breathing in, we receive God’s love more deeply and are formed by it. And like breathing out, we move toward God’s world, partnering alongside God and our neighbors to see everything flourish in it.