Sunday Morning Worship

Location: Reach Out Lodi

10:00am



 The Common Ground Church (CGC)

partners with people for a fulfilling, just life 

in the manner and values of Jesus.


So, where does Common Ground Church meet? 

Besides Sunday mornings at Reach Out Lodi and Facebook Live, Common Ground meets in micro-communities (microchurches) of “two or more” in the manner and value of Jesus. We are in the initial stages of making this shift from a historic, centralized church platform to a distributed network of progressive smaller, local churches in the name of Jesus.

Why Microchurch: are we fixing a problem or living out of our passion?


Common Ground  Church’s values are inspired by love of God and love of neighbor as self, and the sending of everyday, ordinary people into their contexts rooted in this love:

    • Collaboration (Common Ground is a collaborative between God, self and neighbor rooted in the Great Commandment)
    • Curiosity (love of God)
    • Compassion (love of neighbor as self)
    • Courage (go, love boldly…)

ELCA/Common Ground Values (https://www.elca.org/about/mission-and-vision). Common Ground and its microchurces hold to the following values: 

Forgiveness and reconciliation – We are reconciled to God by God’s forgiving mercy. Forgiveness and reconciliation flow from what God has made us to be in Jesus Christ and what God is doing with us in the world. As a people of God, we embody forgiveness in speech, action and relationships, and our ministry in reconciliation is foundational.

Dignity, compassion and justice – Each person is created in God’s image. We respect this God-given right to dignity and, inspired by the life of Jesus, show love and compassion for all people. Through proclamation of the gospel, through worship and as servants of God working for healing and justice in the world, we uphold and seek to protect the dignity and human rights of all people.

Inclusion and diversity – As Christ’s church, we value the richness of God’s creation and offer a radical welcome to all people, appreciating our common humanity and our differences. We are a church that does not view diversity as a barrier to unity. We recognize and will challenge dynamics of power and privilege that create barriers to participation and equity in this church and society – for women, people of color, minority ethnic groups, people with disabilities, people who are marginalized or living in poverty, and the LGBTQ community.

Courage and openness to change – Because we trust in God’s promise and understand faith to be a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, we are emboldened to embrace learning and change in our spiritual and institutional journey as church. This means we are open to new ways and willing to take risks to discover God’s plan for this church.

Faithful stewardship of God’s creation and gifts – As church together, faithful stewardship is about holding to God’s purpose and ensuring the responsibilities and resources that God has entrusted to us are used with great care and with accountability to God, to each other and those served by this church.


Learn more about what keeps the CGC community up at night here.

Listen in on an early conversation from August 11, 2020, around the process and concerns that led us to the distributed modality of microchurches.