...being the hands and feet of Jesus in our world!
OUR MISSION, VALUES, DENOMINATION
OUR MISSION
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Receive Love. Give Love. Repeat. Again and Again.
OUR VALUES
Our Core Values are behaviors that we seek to be a natural part of who we are and what we do. It's easy to lose sight of the values for the words that describe them, so we worked hard to make each of our 8 core values as two-word pairs. They define who we are becoming.
At the Core of Joy is...
ALWAYS JESUS
All that we do and all that we are about is Jesus. This is always our top priority and first value!
OPEN ARMS
Jesus had open arms and so should we. He welcomes ALL people to follow Him and receive the love and grace He offers.
SERVING HANDS
Jesus demonstrates God's love by serving others and so will we.
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AMONG the BROKEN
Jesus is often found among the broken, the outcast, the marginalized, those who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, and the poor. We want to be found among these people too!
BELOVED MESS
Let's be honest. None of us are perfect and each of us live messy lives. The world we live in is quick to label us; but none of those labels define who we are in God's eyes. We are beloved by God
in spite of our messy lives.
RISKING TOGETHER
Jesus doesn't call us to sit in places of comfort. He sends us out into the world to places where love and grace are needed. He sends us out in teams. We believe that our relationship with Jesus deepens as we trust Him by taking
risks. It is a scaryworld, so
we take risks together.
GIVING BACK
God gives all that we are and have to us and, in grateful response, we give back. Our money, our time, our talents, our very lives--we cannot out give God!
TRANSFORMATIONAL CIRCLES
Life change happens best in circles. We gather weekly in circles--in homes and at the ministry center--around The Bible, with each other and the Holy Spirit, to explore and grow deeper in our relationships with each other and Jesus. For more information on the format, see our 5 Q Circle page under "CONNECT".
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The Church of the Brethren Community of Joy is part of a denominational family of churches known as the Church of the Brethren. The CoB began in 1708 in Germany when 8 people who were part of the state church there (Lutheran) decided after a bible study that they should be baptized as adults. So they went to a nearby creek and baptized one another, which was a crime punishable by death at the time. Due to that reality, they fled and eventually ended up in the Germantown/ Philadelphia PA area and have spread throughout the United States and in various other countries like Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. We highly value: Bible Study, Community Life (being connected with each other), Simple Living, Peacemaking, Caring for our Environment, Serving God by Serving Others. The CoB is congregational in organization, with an Annual Conference that gives guidance, but does not force itself on congregation. For more information on the Church of the Brethren go to www.brethren.org.
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