Life in the SF Bay Area is stressful. St John's is a calm place of refuge amid all the noise and busyness. Many newcomers felt the openness and safety to explore the Anglican tradition. Many of us loved St John's because of the simplicity and calmness of our worship experience and the sacred space we inhabit.
Our Sunday liturgical worship is intentionally simple and unpretentious. The use of liturgical prayers and traditional music is intentional. Those practices reflect our desire to live and worship in simplicity and foster a calm spiritual refuge for our members.
Our space in Santa Maria also plays an essential role in our experience as a spiritual refuge in the busy Bay Area. Members appreciate the hospitality offered to us by the Catholic priests and nuns. The space is nestled on a secluded hill in the peaceful Orinda. It fits in our overall desire for a place of simple worship and a spiritual "way station," or retreat center, for our members.
Our Beliefs
God’s Intention to Heal the World
We live in a highly fractured and broken world. We believe that God’s intention is to heal the nations and our individual lives. The Hebrew word for this is shalom. The Bible also teaches it as the Kingdom of God.
Healing the World Through Jesus
God says he is in control in the brokenness around us. He is in the work of loving and saving lost humankind.
He has done and is doing this. God came in the person of Jesus two thousand years ago to show us the way of God’s Kingdom: the way of loving and dying for one’s enemy; the way of lifting up those who are oppressed and marginalized; the way of doing right even at personal cost.
What Jesus Says about the Kingdom of God
The way of God’s kingdom is elusive and often hard to describe, so Jesus taught in parables. According to Jesus, the Kingdom’s way is like a mustard seed that dies in the soil and sprouts into a big tree that hosts all kind of creatures. Though God’s way may seem unpopular and hidden in our day and age, those who embrace it will experience God’s shalom.
Our Response
Because of the hiddenness of the Kingdom of God, we need to admit that God’s kingdom should be expressed in the church, but often time it is not. Sadly, as the Church, we often fall short of the ideals Jesus’ teaches us to follow.
As a community, we strive to follow Jesus’ radical example of humility, kindness, and generosity. God’s grace is here to forgive and strengthen. We are to extend the same grace and generosity to everyone.
The Invitation
We welcome people coming from all spiritual backgrounds and journeys. Explore with us at St. John’s God’s intention of healing and restoring shalom.
To learn more about what we believe, see To Be a Christian, a training manual for new believers. For doctrinal statements, see the C4SO website.