Savior’s Vision
Journeying Together:
Loving God, Loving Others, Loving Life
Our vision is based on what Jesus proclaimed as the two greatest commandments: (1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” and (2) “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31). These two commitments lead us to also embrace “Loving Life”—to promote and protect fullness of life for others, as we do for ourselves.
Loving God
We long for a deeper experience of God's transforming love. We walk in the light of Scripture, God’s written Word, as our highest authority and only certain guide on our journey into his love (Psalm 119:105; Hebrews 4:12). And, we worship in the liturgical tradition of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.
Loving Others
We are called to a common life of “humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-6). We desire to welcome, include, and learn from people who may feel on the margins: widows, singles, persons with disabilities, and others. We commit ourselves to recognize and respond to those who are suffering and in need through giving, serving, praying, and promoting social justice (Micah 6:8). We have long-term relationships with Outreach, People’s Resource Center, and World Relief Chicagoland; and we support the Multi-Ethnic Church Development Fund.
Loving Life
We receive every good gift that comes down to us from God (James 1:17). The weekly Sabbath is an important part of our tasting the abundance of life that Jesus offers. (Exodus 20:8; Mark 2:27). Some related sermons: Resist Hurry / Remember the Sabbath / Honor Someone / Appreciate and Create Culture / Delight in God's Creation
Savior’s Values
No list can capture the heart of our church, but here are a few things we value (in roughly alphabetical order):
Always Welcoming: St. Benedict wrote, “Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ, because He will say: ‘I was a stranger and you took Me in’” (Mt 25:35).
All Ages: As Pastor Mary says, “When we don’t find ways to integrate all ages into the life of the church, the church misses out.”
Collaboration in Ministry: We welcome leadership and teaching from both men and women. We try to be low on competition and high on collaboration.
Community: We are not meant to be alone. Christian community becomes real in small steps, relationship by relationship, small group by small group.
Eating Together: It's true! We really do enjoy that.
Goodness of Godly Authority: We affirm that “Holy Scripture is the supreme authority in the Church, that it is the Word of God written, and contains all things necessary to Salvation” (from the Thirty-Nine Articles, a historical document important to Anglicans). We also embrace the historic pattern of leadership in which churches are led by bishops, priests, and deacons (see our bishops and the Anglican Church in North America).
Grace: The grace we receive from Christ is a free gift. It is not something we can earn. We hope that a vivid sense of God’s grace will infuse all our interactions with others.
Inward Journey & Outward Journey: We believe in inner transformation through prayer, Sabbath, silence, honesty with others, and other Christian practices. This “inward journey” works with the “outward journey” of loving others, like the 2 sides of 1 lung. We care for and learn from those in need.
Radically Resisting Busyness and Hurry: We try to resist busyness and over-programming, for as Eugene Peterson taught, “Busyness is an illness of spirit.”
Christian Beliefs
Apostles’ creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Jerusalem Declaration
1. Salvation
We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.
2. The Bible
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.
3. The Creeds
We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds [Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed] as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
4. Anglican History
We uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.
5. Jesus
We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only Saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith.
6. Worship
We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.
7. Church Leaders
We recognise that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.
8. Marriage & Sexuality
We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.
9. Sharing Faith
We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, to seek those who do not know Christ and to baptize, teach and bring new believers to maturity.
10. Environmental Care & Social Justice
We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, to uphold and advocate justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy.
11. Christian Unity
We are committed to the unity of all those who know and love Christ and to building authentic ecumenical relationships. We recognise the orders and jurisdiction of those Anglicans who uphold orthodox faith and practice, and we encourage them to join us in this declaration.
12. Christian Charity
We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on issues that divide us.
13. Theological Clarity
We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.
14. The Goal of History
We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of history, we praise him for the way he builds up his church through his Spirit by miraculously changing lives.