What We Believe
OCBC members hold a wide variety of theological beliefs.
We range from fairly orthodox Trinitarian, to liberation/feminist/Queer/decolonial/ecological theologies, to questioning seekers. Diverse faith journeys have brought people to OCBC. Some of our members were raised American Baptist. Some are former Southern Baptists (who bring their biblical literacy and love for great hymns, while having moved to other places theologically). Some arrived here via other evangelical and mainline Protestant backgrounds, Roman Catholicism, other Christian traditions, other faith traditions, and no faith tradition. While we are clear in our identity as a community of Jesus-followers, we have a deep respect for fellow seekers of other faiths and those with questions and doubts. We often welcome members of other faiths to worship with us in ways that fit for them.
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Our strongest theological consensus about the Triune God would likely be on the Holy Spirit, God present in our midst, regularly experienced in worship, congregational activities, and our mission/social justice outreach.
OCBC members have different beliefs about what it means to say, “Jesus is Christ,” but share in the experience of grace, the understanding of Christ as Liberator, not only from personal sin, but also from structural sin that inflicts suffering in history and society, such as white supremacy, heterosexism, ableism, colonialism, capitalism, and environmental destruction. Just as Jesus is understood as anointed by God, we understand ourselves to be anointed to follow Jesus in the way of love, compassion, peace and justice, which may lead to the cross, but always to resurrection.
God is regularly acknowledged in worship as Creator, Source and Center of Being, Eternal Love, Holy One, and other metaphors that express aspects of the Divine without putting God into a human-made box. Our God language intentionally uses multiple genders in reference to God, and often in metaphors beyond gender and human imagery, to affirm our belief that all human beings are made in the image of God, and that God is likewise infinitely beyond anthropomorphic descriptions. Even as our people have myriad understandings and experiences of God, there is consensus leaning toward the Mystery of God, and God’s radically inclusive, transformative love, rather than doctrinal purity.
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While the congregation is strongly opposed to biblical fundamentalism (literalism) and its use to advance legalistic orthodoxy or right-wing political causes, our members desire and thrive on consistent biblical preaching and teaching that creatively, constructively, and often critically engages scripture. Worship attendees appreciate and expect insightful interpretation that makes the biblical stories come alive with relevance for our time and our lives. People are not all in the same place as to what it means to say that the bible is “divinely inspired,” but all respect it as a source of wisdom, guidance, and ancient, yet eternal stories of redemptive grace, as well as challenge to and subversion/conversion of the principalities and powers, and individual lives.
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The OCBC congregation periodically holds times of discernment about our mission. In our most recent cycle, it was discerned that the current purpose of our church is both ministry to its members and to equip its members for ministry and service to the world, moving from privilege to responsibility. The goals of our ministry in the world are determined by the questions, “Where in the world is God already active and how may we join God in this work?,” and, “Where in the world is Christ being crucified and how might we tend to the suffering Christ with compassion, comfort, and mercy as we seek a just end to such suffering?” This discernment has moved us to ministries of solidarity and accompaniment with refugees, asylum seekers, and incarcerated persons, creation justice ministries, and a commitment to growing toward being a truly anti-racist church.