FAQs
We believe clarity is kindness. To that end, we will do everything we can to communicate the sort of community we’re aiming to build. We believe people should have as much information about a community or organization as possible, so they can make an informed and consensual decision for themselves as to whether or not they’d like to participate or get involved.
Below are a few of the most common questions we’ve been asked and hope it helps bring clarity to the sort of culture we’re trying to build. Whether it’s with Commoners or somewhere else, we hope and pray that you’ll find belonging.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes, we are a church. But we’re doing our best to reinterpret, reimagine, and reframe what the word church actually means. We understand the word church means different things to different people, and that’s ok. But we dream of a world where the word church comes to refer to a community of people who find meaning, inspiration, or purpose in the way of Jesus (or other practices of faith/spirituality), and organize around a common desire for love and liberation in the world.
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We’re always growing, unlearning, and learning in our journey of faith. We want to celebrate the mystery of God, the scriptures, the Christian faith, and spirituality as a whole. This means we are more interested in asking good questions than having all the right answers. We aim to create a culture of humility, exploration, opposition, and discovery where we can divest from harmful theologies and interpretations of the Bible in order to reframe/reclaim/reimagine a liberative understanding of faith, theology, politics, community, and the world around us.
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If you’re asking if we’re starting a Sunday service, the answer is not right now. But we will still have opportunities to gather together!
We are committed to caring for our community by building a framework of ministry that isn’t contingent on a Sunday service, raising money, or requiring volunteers to commit to unpaid labor for the ministries of the church to function. So we’re working to establish accessible and sustainable ways for us to organize, care for one another, create change, and build a community of love and liberation, together.
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Absolutely! We welcome people from any and all religious or non-religious backgrounds to participate in our community. Whether you have lots of faith, a hint of faith, or no faith at all, you are welcomed, accepted, and celebrated just as you are. Because our God is still speaking in many languages, we aim to join together with non-religious and interreligious partnerships to uproot injustice, eradicate poverty, care for the brokenhearted, nurture our planet, and build a better world, together.
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Yes! We aim to be a radically welcoming, inclusive, and affirming church for our LGBTQIA+ siblings. We desire to become a safe community for our queer, trans, nb, and gnc siblings to explore their faith, experience the love of God, and become the best version of themselves. We welcome, honor, and celebrate the way the Divine shows up in all of our diverse expressions of gender identity and sexual orientation.
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The terms progressive or liberal mean different things to different people, and we don’t collectively find a home in either of those terms. That said, we do desire to build a community of love and liberation that is creatively reimagining the future of faith, spirituality, theology, politics, ecclesiology, and community.
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No, we do not have any official denominational affiliation.
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We are not partisan, but are political in the sense that we care deeply about how our community, city, state, country, and world is governed, organized, and experienced by the people. We will actively name and resist social systems and policies of oppression that harm the poor, immigrants, disabled, ill, LGBTQIA+, children, elderly, and people of color, especially our Black siblings. We will do everything in our power to see the policies, systems, structures, and cultures of white supremacy, patriarchy, classism, ableism, cisheterosexism, xenophobia, and capitalism in our community dismantled, abolished, and eradicated. We will work towards liberation of the oppressed, freedom for the captive, and flourishing for all humanity.
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We do not have an official doctrinal statement. We find belonging in shared values, not shared creeds, dogmas, or doctrines. While we honor many spiritual/non-religious perspectives and beliefs, we continually find ourselves coming back to the liberative vision of the life, teachings, and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.
That said, even though we follow in the way of Jesus, we affirm the teachings of Jesus are but one of many ways to experience the Divine and Sacred in the human experience, and we draw from many diverse sources of wisdom in our spiritual journey.
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We do not have a pastoral or staff team yet. We are intentionally organizing around a common table of mutual collaboration. We aim to decentralize power so leadership is shared, because we believe we're at our best when we work together.
That said, Joseph Peterson (he/him) is one of the organizers of Commoners and would be happy to connect with you! You can contact him at joseph@commonerschurch.com.
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We do have a small set of administrative needs (website, signage, resources, etc) that we are looking to fundraise for. After those expenses are met, all money received will be redistributed through our mutual aid fund.
We’re convinced that mutual aid is at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus. So we practice the voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services for the mutual benefit and flourishing of our community. This means that we prioritize an anti-capitalist culture of economics as we commit to radical acts of generosity, solidarity, and equity, especially among the most marginalized in our community.
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Yes, all of our in-person gatherings will be in locations with accessibility on the ground floor level. We’ll also have masks available for all of our indoor in-person gatherings.
If you have specific accessibility questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at hello@commonerschurch.com.
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