We at Faith Journey are committed to rethink and create the whole concept of spiritual formation - how people become Christian and live in faith. In the modern church it was believed that the most effective way to develop a person's spiritual life was to increase their knowledge about God. People behaved, and still behave, as though the spiritual part of a person is a separate component that can be worked on and developed in isolation from the rest of the person. At Faith Journey we will take the view of spiritual formation in which we forget about working on part of a person's life, and instead work with people as if there is no distinction between the spiritual, emotional, physical, social, professional, and private aspects of life. We hope that the result of this vision will move people to a point where they are in harmony with God in all arenas of life, and who seek to live in the way of Jesus in every relationship, every situation, every moment.

Service
From the beginning, life with God has been about service. The teachings of Jesus are saturated with the invitation to be a people who love and serve our community. At Faith Journey we will be committed to living our lives of service because of its formative qualities. Service isn't how we act out our spirituality; it's how our spirituality gets shaped. And as such, it's not reserved for the elite of faith. We at Faith Journey are captured by this verse from the book of James: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27) We are driven by this call, not as a way to live out our faith, but as a means to our faith. As part of our spiritual formation we want to answer that call and be useful religious people. We don't see a lot of benefit from the "I-not-religious, I-am-a-Christian" attitude. Rather the world needs people who are living religiously useful lives in and for the world. We want to be that kind of people, and we know this means making service a normal practice of our spiritual formation. Living in the way of Jesus is not a result of a deeper devotion to the things of Jesus; it is what develops in us in that deepened devotion.

Worship
Our intention is that our worship gatherings be a time when people contribute to the creation of a setting in which we are transformed, not a setting in which people come to be serviced by professionals or qualified volunteers. Our gatherings will reflect our belief that we are in this together and that we all have something to offer. Our worship gatherings will not be meant as shows or concerts. They will be designed as interactive experiences. We will invite participants to join in, share what they have, and take a piece of what those around have to give. We will be a gathering of people who are on a journey through life with each other and with God. Our gatherings for worship will be designed to help us along on our faith journeys.

Dialogue together
Dialogue isn't just helpful in spiritual formation, it is essential. If people are to center their lives on the story and call of Jesus, we as the church need to find ways to help the truths of Jesus become embedded in those lives. For many people that can only happen when they are allowed to turn an idea over in their heads for a while, to ask questions of it, to make sense of it in their own time and in light of their own experiences. Dialogue needs to be at least a two-way interaction. A person who simply listens to a speech or sermon really isn't given time to process the ideas - by the time the idea is out there, the presenter has moved on to the next thought. Our worship gatherings will often have pauses or be followed by a time of interaction in smaller groups. It is during this time that we will try to create a community that's more like a potluck: People eat and they also bring something for others. Spiritual formation takes place when all of us engage our hopes, dreams, ideas and understandings with the story of God as it unfolds through history and through us. Dialogue will be a large part of every gathering and will be a focus of our small group gatherings and Bible studies.

Community
Like the other forms of spiritual formation, community will permeate every aspect of our life as a church. Throughout history, becoming a follower of Jesus has often meant being brought into a community of people who ate together, lived together, shared their possessions and their lives. At Faith Journey we believe that community is where real spiritual formation takes place. Most people come to faith, not by an isolated effort, but through living day by day with people of faith such as their families or friends. Community as a means of spiritual formation serves to immerse people in the Christian way of living so that they learn how to be Christian in a life-long process of discovery and change. Christian community can and should be the context for evangelism and discipleship, and the place where faith is professed and lived.