Gospel AF Communities
Q1: What is the foundation of GospelAF communities?
A1: GospelAF communities are grounded in a deliberate rejection of religious stigma, human hierarchy, and performance standards that hinder radical belonging. Our belonging is rooted in the reality that we are eternally Beloved by God through Christ’s finished work on the Cross.
Q2: What is the source of fellowship in GospelAF communities?
A2: The ground of our fellowship is not agreement or conformity to behavioral standards, but the fact that we are sinners for whom Christ died.
Q3: What is the core belief of GospelAF communities?
A3: We believe that God’s unconquerable Grace and life-creating Love, made manifest in Christ, absolutely and eternally secures our place in His family, regardless of our failures, frustrations, or rejections.
Q4: How do GospelAF communities view acceptance?
A4: We believe that Christ’s work on the Cross has secured full acceptance for all, overriding any need to strive, resolve our brokenness, or attain perfection before drawing near to God or to one another.
Q5: What is the cultural vision of GospelAF communities?
A5: We aim to create sanctuaries of belonging amid a fractured culture obsessed with self-creation and identity projects. We reject the tendencies towards consumption, competition, and demand for flawless performance that often poison relationships.
Q6: How do GospelAF communities maintain their focus?
A6: We anchor ourselves in the proclamation of the Gospel and participation in ancient, global practices that connect us to the people of God throughout time and around the world. These practices continually reorient us back to our unmerited and freely bestowed Belovedness.
Q7: How do GospelAF communities approach conflict and disagreement?
A7: When tensions arise, we model reconciliation by explicitly re-centering on the Gospel, proclaiming our mutual Belovedness in Christ, rather than resorting to authority, bureaucracy, or democracy to resolve disputes.
Q8: How do GospelAF communities view repentance?
A8: We see repentance as a natural reverberation of Gospel-astonishment, not as a means to achieve health and wholeness. Our liturgical formations unleash ever-intensifying doxologies of freedom and awakening desire.
Q9: Who is welcomed in GospelAF communities?
A9: Our belonging knows no limits. We welcome those dishonored by society as icons of God’s upside-down kin-dom breaking in, fiercely protecting spaces where all can experience their Belovedness without caveat.
Q10: How do GospelAF communities handle practical limitations in communal gatherings?
A10: While we strive to welcome the widest possible number, we recognize that it’s not possible to tailor to every need simultaneously. The wise Host must discern when and how boundaries must be set, especially confronting those who fundamentally reject the universal belonging being celebrated.
Q11: What is the ultimate goal of GospelAF communities?
A11: Our goal is to be provocative witnesses amidst an insatiable world of consumption and competition, subversively feasting on the infinite abundance of grace and extending a radically rooted invitation for all to find an unshakable home in Christ.