We want to saturate everything we are, do and hope for in prayer. Prayer is not something we do in relationship to God, it is the oxygenated air that IS the relationship. Worship should be done in a thorough sharing and offering of our lives to God and to each other. We seek to incorporate the dimensions of the total person- engaging all the senses as avenues and offerings of worship. By discovering the beauty of God in music, art, creativity and the employment of many forms of media we will convey the message of a reciprocating and ever-deepening love that invites worship. Veritas values a worship scenario that makes sense to the culture of which we are a part. Our hunger for belonging to a genuine, accepting community despite our hang-ups and limitations will always extend beyond the degree to which we’ve been burned by them. We simply esteem others higher than ourselves. We aggressively go out of our way to remove the artificial distinction between guest and host so that we may impart new life to one another. We are simply here to serve. The surrounding community teems with various needs and we will seek to meet them in unique, neglected or untried ways through Christ-centered, servant-styled acts of love on their “turf.” The Veritas Community will not be closed-off. We want to expand outwardly beyond our familiar comfort zones and connect to the community-at-large. To envision staking claims on unproven grounds of ministry and service is pretty exciting. The aspiration toward this kind of self-less serving will open the doors to sharing the love of Christ. We are all about following Jesus. We want to go where He is going. People who are still in the tire-kicking phase can be connected to Christ-followers who are becoming a part of a community of growing and maturing disciples. We are to teach others about Christ by engaging them where they are “at” spiritually, fully realizing that spiritual stages are not static. We realize the importance of being a part of a fellowship of accountable people who dare to follow Christ and will therefore hold to the truth that following Jesus is tough and that sometimes believing is a struggle. As we draw close to God we find an inescapable beauty that at times can only be relayed through artistry. As we are made in his image, we reflect his beauty through the creativity with which we are endowed. We experience his presence through an artistic expression that can draw others to Christ. We want to be real to God, ourselves God and each other. We are not on the way to seeking prestige or status and we will not sacrifice one another for the sake of goal achievement. Within the God-defined safe boundaries of accountable, interdependent relationships, we believe that God will impart healing and growth as we bear one another’s burdens and cast them on Him. All of our stories are both different and the same. They are different in the details and the variety of experiences yet we each find ourselves in the central passion of God’s Story for humanity. God’s story for us is that Jesus can identify with us. When we identify with Jesus, His Story becomes ours. A great Christ-follower long ago said that we ought to “preach the gospel” (tell the story) wherever we go………and sometimes we ought to use words. Sharing the good news of Jesus is a balance of word and deed. We are saved to be spent. The love of Christ compels us to plant other churches locally and to participate in the mission efforts nationally and around the world. Particularly, we believe that some of the most passionate leaders of the Church have not entered into relationship with Jesus yet. We also believe that some of these people will be a part of the Veritas family. Veritas will aim to be a fertile training ground whereby people can discover their passion, be equipped and be sent out to do what God designed them to do and to go where he calls them.