• Jesus is the Lord of the church and the Lord of our lives. He is the Good Shepherd. We are His sheep. We aim to listen only to His voice (John 10:11-18; Philippians 2:10-11).
• The Bible is the ultimate authority for our lives. The church's tradition and the collective reason of the saints help us to determine God's will for our lives when it is not clearly evident from Holy Scripture (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 3:18).
• Worship is to be a joyful foretaste of heaven.  We were made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (Revelation 5:8-10).
• Small groups are central to the spiritual vitality of our community.  We believe that St. Matthew’s is called to be a “church of small groups” not a “church with small groups.” This model began in the early church as Christians joined together in small groups for study, fellowship, and prayer on a regular basis (Acts 2:42).
• Prayer is the foundation of a biblically formed church. Nothing of worth will happen to us, for us, or through us without first taking it to the Lord in prayer (Ephesians 3:14-21).
• We believe that membership in the church should mean something. We expect members to be Baptized and Confirmed, active in the ministry of the local church, regular in attendance, constant in prayer, and generous in giving (Acts 2:42).
• Love is defined for us by the cross of Christ. This love is marked by forgiveness, patience, humility and honesty.  This kind of love is to be the mediating factor in every relationship we enjoy. Godly people, therefore, do not allow themselves to participate in innuendo, gossip, or hearsay.  Conflict can be healthy only when we display the courage to meet face-to-face to reconcile our differences (Matthew 18:15-20; Matthew 22:34-40; I Corinthians 13).
• We believe that every Christian is endowed with spiritual gifts from God and we are called to make use of them. The true purpose and meaning for our lives is only found in using our gifts to the glory of God (I Corinthians 12).
• Healthy Christian stewardship derives from a sense of joy and gratitude in response to the good news of God in Christ . Growing stewards seek increasingly to give their lives to God through investing their time, talent and treasure in the things of the kingdom (II Corinthians 8:2-5).
• God cares deeply about those who are lost, and therefore such should matter to us.  The calling of every Christian is to share the good news of God’s reconciling love in Christ so that all people might come within the reach of His saving embrace (Luke 19:10; Matthew 28:16-20; BCP p. 58).
• Broken people matter to God and ought to matter to us.  Ministering to the needs of those in physical, emotional, mental or financial distress is one of the highest callings of the people of God (Matthew 25).
• We believe that children and youth are the future of the church. We should invest in their lives (Matthew 19:13-14).
• We believe that the blood of Jesus forever broke down the barriers of race, sex, and age, making us all equally important to God.  We are to treat one another with the same dignity and respect that Christ has afforded us (Galatians 3:28).
• We are committed to a biblical and classical Anglican understanding of Christianity^*.  Because of this, we believe that we are to be “salt and light” to the world in an age of spiritual and moral ambiguity.  We join with the parishes of this diocese and with Christians around the globe who are living out, day by day, the historic, biblical faith of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:13-14). 

* "One canon reduced to writing by God himself, two testaments, three creeds, fourgeneral councils, five centuries, and the series of Fathers in that period – the centuries that is, before Constantine, and two after, determine the boundary of our faith."
The Rt. Rev. Lancelot Andrewes (1555 – 1626)