• 1085 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA
  • 11am Sundays

The Church at
Ponce & Highland

We require no statement of faith. Instead we unite around common practices.

What we practice

We are a congregation open to all persons who are seeking to follow the way of Jesus. Instead of requiring confession of a statement of faith, we unite around common practice. We don’t demand everyone believe the same thing all the time. Everyone here is at a different place in their faith journey.

But the love of Jesus is at the center of everything. We emphasize:

  • Jesus’s love and how it can free us to love more (rather than only avoiding punishment).
  • Jesus’s life and teachings and how they can help us live in relationship (instead of only focusing on his death).
  • Jesus’s vision for a whole new creation (instead of only seeking individual salvation).

We are guided by three principles: radical inclusivity, thoughtful spirituality, and caring community. Click on each principle below to expand and learn more.

Three principles

Radical inclusivity

Radical inclusivity means that, recognizing that we are all “one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) we affirm our equality in the family of God and in this congregation regardless of social status, education, race, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental ability, physical ability, position, or any other distinction.

  • We practice the priesthood of all believers, affirming that each individual is competent to make decisions in matters of faith in conversation with community. Women, LGBTQ folks, and all other children of God regularly read scripture, preach, lead worship, become members, serve as deacons, and fill leadership roles at our church. We proudly ordain women and LGBTQ folks to Gospel ministry.
  • We practice welcoming people from all walks of life on Sundays, without judgment, to worship God, share the message of God in Christ Jesus, and continually examine its implications for our lives. Children participate in worship with all their wiggles and squeals. We use preferred pronouns, respect each other’s boundaries, celebrate diversity, and try to offer hospitality instead of judgment. Even as we offer each other grace, we reject violence and other behaviors that disrupt our common life or cause harm. 
  • We practice discovering and affirming the talents, skills and spiritual gifts God has given each of us and how to use them in God’s service; as well as evoking and celebrating those talents, skills and gifts God has given to others.

Thoughtful spirituality

Thoughtful spirituality means encouraging doubt and questioning, inviting good questions instead of insisting on answers, and staying open to the presence and direction of God in our lives.

  • We practice gathering, because we can only discover so much about God on our own. In worship, we practice being in a world focused on doing. We practice being enough in a culture that tells us we lack something. And, we practice being together in an era of individualism and loneliness.
  • We practice interpreting the Bible as individuals in community. We don’t dictate one “right” interpretation of scripture. Instead we read the Bible together, learn from each other, and seek to interpret Scripture through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. 
  • We practice openness to the ongoing revelation of God in the world. We trust science, celebrate new discoveries, and ask ourselves how God is speaking to us through history, the arts, nature, current events in the world, and other people. 
  • We practice prayer and study. We practice prayer and other spiritual practices, from meditation to journaling, both together and individually, as a way to more fully experience the presence and direction of God in our lives. We examine the Bible, history, and theology through individual observance, book groups, and Sunday Bible study.
  • We practice the observance of two ordinances, the Lord’s Supper and Believer’s Baptism.

Caring community

Caring community means taking care of each other, serving people experiencing food insecurity and homelessness, and cultivating a more just and peaceful world.

  • We practice reconciling relationships, recognizing that we are all children of God, and minister to spiritual, physical, and emotional needs, within this congregation and in the larger community, recognizing the freedom and dignity of personal convictions within the bonds of unity.
  • We practice nonviolently resisting hatred, oppression, exploitation, and all patterns of life that degrade the image of God in each person. We reject the heresy of white Christian nationalism.
  • We practice serving each other and those facing food, housing, and job insecurity.
  • We practice sharing out of our abundance and being responsible to God for the creative use of our income and possessions.
  • We practice historic Baptist principles, including the separation of church and state, and the right of the local congregation to make its own decisions and to function in partnership with freely chosen affiliations. We encourage individual participation and a prophetic presence in the public arena.

Our Church Covenant

We are a congregation open to all persons who are seeking to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and who desire to pattern their lives after the life and teachings of Jesus. Recognizing that we are all “one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) we affirm our equality in the family of God and in this congregation regardless of social status, education, race, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental ability, physical ability, position, or any other distinction.

We believe that we have been created by God to live in community and led by the Spirit to join with this congregation. Together we affirm, practice and celebrate these historic Baptist principles, including:

  • The right and power of the local congregation to make its own decisions and to function in partnership with freely chosen affiliations. As such the local congregation owns its own property and has the power to ordain and call its own leaders.
  • The priesthood of all believers, affirming that each individual is competent to make decisions in matters of faith in conversation with community.
  • The separation of church and state while encouraging individual participation and a prophetic presence in the public arena.
  • Being guided by scripture we affirm the freedom and responsibility of the local congregation to assist individuals in the ongoing interpretation of the Bible as led by the Holy Spirit.
  • Openness to the ongoing revelation of God in the world.
  • The observance of the ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and Believer’s Baptism.
  • Commitment to the ongoing education of members and ministers in training.

As a member of this fellowship, I will seek to live out the following commitments:

  • I will gather regularly with the church to worship God, share the message of God in Christ Jesus, and continually examine its implications for my life.
  • I will study the Bible, meditate, and pray as I seek to more fully experience the presence and direction of God in my life.
  • I will also be sensitive to God’s message as it comes to me from history, the arts, nature, current events in the world, and other people.
  • I will be responsible to God through the creative use of all my income and possessions. I will give regularly to the financial support of our church’s ministry and missions endeavors.
  • I will discover, and affirm the talents, skills and spiritual gifts God has given me and use them in God’s service; and I will evoke, and celebrate those talents, skills and gifts God has given to others.
  • I will seek to reconcile relationships and minister to spiritual, physical, and emotional needs, within this congregation and in the larger community, recognizing the freedom and dignity of personal convictions within the bonds of unity.

Interested in membership?

Membership here is open to all. Given the importance of membership to our future as a church, we do ask people spend at least 6 months as an active part of our worshiping community before considering membership. You can also read more about what membership means to us.

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