Compelled by God’s love, we remove barriers in order to welcome all people into God’s community.  

They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. (Mark 2:2-4)

Freed from shame by God’s grace, we offer one another truth and our true selves, both our weaknesses and strengths

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:5-7)

Awed by God’s grandeur and mystery, we depend on God fully while holding convictions humbly

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Captivated by God’s self-revelation, we seek wisdom by asking questions, wrestling with Scripture, and learning from many voices

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” (Exodus 3:2-3)

Inspired by the passion of Jesus, we share the burdens of others, and put love into action

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:3-8)

Adopted into God's family, we love and cherish all who are a part of that family. As family, we have a mutual responsibility to care for each other.

In Hawaiian culture, the idea of Ohana is that family is defined not by blood ties but by some other means. Similarly, being a part of God's family is not because of a certain bloodline you belong to but by the blood of Christ shed for all humankind. To that end, as God's family we seek to welcome and love all who come through our doors as well as whenever and wherever we gather. As God's family, we have a mutual responsibility (and privilege!) to care for one other and for the larger body. We need each other.

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,”  and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:26-27)

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12-21-26)

All churches share the common call from God to fulfill the Great commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) and Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). In addition, Scripture offers models for the role of the Church in Ephesians 4:11-16, Acts 2:42-47, 1 Corinthians, and throughout the whole Bible. Beyond that general call, our Lord gives particular calls to churches and individuals to serve as certain parts of Christ's worldwide body, which Christ fills with his Spirit and through which he continues the work of serving, speaking, and suffering for the salvation of all creation. Highrock’s founders, leaders, and members have discerned God’s call to us as articulated in the following Vision Statement:

To see God transforming every neighborhood and institution in Greater Boston through locally-focused congregations who live and love in such a compelling and Christ-like way that our neighbors are challenged to seriously consider the claims of Christ, be reconciled to God, engage in Christian community, and serve others in the unique ways God designed them to, so that Boston becomes a “city on a hill” that will be a blessing to the world.

Continually drawn by God's love, filled by God's Spirit, shaped by God's Word, and attentive to God's presence, we worship the living God with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength above all else and in all else. This includes practicing praise, prayer, obedience, sacraments, Sabbath, study, service, singing, silence, confession, celebration, fasting, feasting, forgiving, thanksgiving, and seeking God's presence, power, and purposes in every aspect of our lives.

Most of God's promises are made not to individuals, but to the collective Christian community called the Church, and apply to all who belong to her. In our uniqueness that results from diverse ethnicities, experiences, preferences, and perspectives, we are reconciled in Christ's one body by a love that compels us to confront, confess, comfort, counsel, and celebrate each other in God's name so that we might all grow in Christlikeness and reflect Christ to a world that longs to see Him still alive among them. We cannot love God, follow Christ, or fully preach the Gospel if we do not love one another, including our enemies. The primary context for individual spiritual growth and Gospel proclamation is Christian community. Through shared laughter, tears, prayers, experiences, and mutual submission, our relationships will become environments in which mutual dignity is protected, truth is shared, and forgiveness is sought, extended and received, resulting in repentance and reconciliation as we enter into the battle for each other's souls against the power of sin and death.

We continue God's work of creation and redemption of all creation in our worship, our work, and our relationships as we engage the world as servants of Christ, empowered, energized, and equipped even to suffer for the Gospel so that God's will "will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven," and in order to hasten the day when "every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God the Father." As the body of Christ, we want God to do through our body the very kinds of things He did through Christ's body as we imitate our Lord's passion for the least, the lost, and the left out and the lonely. We have been created and called by God, and we want to use "whatever gifts we have received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." We pray for and invite those who are estranged from our Savior and His Church to experience His Spirit alive in our community. Seeing our love for them and one another that transcends our differences and sins, they will get to taste of our Lord's own love, and long to enter into community, initially with us and ultimately with God Himself.