We have a love of words At St Thomas, ANd those words may or may not be familiar to everyone. Rather than anyone needing to guess what on Earth we may be talking about, we felt that creating this landing page may be helpful!

LOVE

At St Thomas we define love as: Any belief, behavior, or idea that heals or reveals the Image of God in you, or your neighbor, or the fingerprints of God on creation.

ALL PEOPLE

At St Thomas, when we say everyone, we mean it. No one is excluded from any aspect of life in this community over their race, sex, gender, or sexual orientation. No one is excluded because of beliefs they hold that differ from others. No one is excluded because of their political beliefs or who they voted for in the last election. We strive, in all things, to hold space for diverse perspectives, and we believe our diversity is our strength.

KINDOM

The term “Kindom of God” was first popularized by Cuban-American Theologian Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz. Isais-Diaz believes that while using Kingdom of God allows the hearer to read colonialism and conquest into the Jesus story, “kin-dom” lifts up an image of la familia, the liberating family of God working together for love and justice. At St Thomas, we fully believe that a goal of our discipleship is to recognize that God is the ultimate ruler of the universe and of our lives, AND we also believe that the experience of that reality results in kinship and connectedness with God, with our neighbor, and with creation as a whole.

SHALOM

Shalom is often simply translated as peace, but its SO much more than that. Shalom can mean Completeness, wholeness, heath, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation, or discord and more. We think the most complete definition of the word is, “Right relationship between God, neighbor, and creation” Plus, when Shalom is transliterated into English you get the word “Salem” which is exactly where we seek to live out God’s shalom in all things.

JUBILEE

Jubilee first comes to Israel in Leviticus 25. The event of Jubilee is commanded to be celebrated every 50 years. During Jubilee slaves are set free, creation rests, and wealth, land, and goods are redistributed so that everyone has enough. As the centuries go on understanding of what Jubilee is, and the expectations surrounding it, expand. By the time of the Prophet Isaiah, Jubilee is understood as a cosmic event that reorients all creation, with lions and lambs lying down together, children playing safely near the dens of poisonous snakes, and the beating of swords into farming tools. By Luke 4 Jesus takes on the concept and proclaims that Jubilee isn’t an event at all, but rather is a reality fulfilled in the Messiah. The kindom of God that Christ inaugurates on the cross is a kindom where everyone has enough, where abundance-mindsets reign supreme, and we all are willing to (as we see in Acts 2) give freely of ‘our’ possessions to fulfill God’s desires for all people.

WORSHIP

Worship is an expansive concept, and yet somehow in most places, worship is simply a synonym for music. That is not the case at St Thomas. We believe worship is any feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for the God of the Universe. That means worship can be expressed by living into who God created us to be and by using that to join the Spirit in the continued establishing of the Kindom of God on earth. Art can be worship, math can be worship, woodworking can be worship, loving your neighbor can be worship. In fact, our very lives can be an act of worship. At St Thomas we are convinced that the more expansive our definition of worship becomes the more beautiful the world becomes and the more breathtaking a “service of worship” can be.