Our Guiding Principles

We are Christian - "Christian" means we perceive in Jesus the divine qualities of love, peace, joy and justice. It does not mean we think Jesus is the only path to God. "Christian" means we eagerly explore the Bible for its spiritual wisdom contained in symbol, metaphor and history. It does not mean a literal or heavy-handed approach that uses the Bible to prove we are right. "Christian" means we have a specific tradition and history to which we are drawn. It does not mean we are constrained from exploring other traditions and creating new ideas that will themselves become history for later generations.
 
We are Open-Minded - "Open-minded" means we understand faith as a quest, not a clutched certainty. "Open-minded" flies above the tired distinction between conservative and liberal, and does not refer to one's specific beliefs, but how one relates to those beliefs. It means we listen to different points of view with expectation of learning and growing.
     
We are Spiritual - "Spiritual" means we believe God is a spirit of love that can be felt and known by each one of us. It means Christianity is as much about the heart as the head, as much about the body as the mind. "Spiritual" means not merely hoping for a better world, but rolling up one's sleeves and starting to feed the hungry, care for the sick and anguished, house the homeless and advocate for a just society.
 
We are Evolving - "Evolving" means eagerly trying new ways of being faithful rather than resisting innovation or change. We strive to be rooted but not stuck.
 
We are Diverse - "Diverse" means we celebrate the differences among us. "Diverse" means we trust that these differences strengthen community. "Diverse" means all are free to seek their own guiding principles in our midst.

- adopted by the members of Squaw Valley Chapel at its quarterly meeting 1/27/2008