For the sake of clarity in the beginning and to make this a safe place for a diverse group of individuals:

We do not:

           Talk politics. We avoid labels. Many of us identify as ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’ and favor certain politicians but political talk only leads to arguments or division.

Instead we:

            Look for common denominator of caring for creation. U.P. Wild never endorses or takes a public stand on political candidates & issues, however, we do prayerfully and reflectively decide how to protect and steward our local water and environment.

We do not:

           Try and convert others into our way of thinking.  In our group, we may have atheists, Evangelicals, former Catholics, current Episcopalians, and followers of the moon cycles- all represented in one circle.  We are not here to convert each other but to respect each other.  The “I am right” way of thinking only leads to division.

Instead we:

           Respect where each person is at in their spiritual journey recognizing that many of us come from backgrounds of spiritual/religious trauma.  We are a group that seeks to be Christ-like, which seeks to live out the way of authentic ancient Christianity in what we believe can only be experienced through who we are - in this moment - with each other.

We do our best to not:

           Use triggering language.

Instead we:

            Are mindful in how we express ourselves.  We do not attack others verbally with dogmatic or slanderous terms.  It is okay to say that you see God as your Lord and Savior or that for you God is the Universe but when we express ourselves, we use personal statements such as, “In my tradition, I refer to God as ___.”  When we share our definition of God as based on our personal histories, we allow others in the group to hold their identifications without feeling threatened.  U.P. Wild views God as the Creator, the Author of all Life, the Wordless Word, who lives in and within all things.

We do our best to not:

            Exclude people, guilt or shame them.  We do not judge people because of ethnicity, heritage, social status, orientation or spiritual background.  We do not blame or shame anyone for their past or those of their ancestors.

Instead we:

            See the person as they are.  We accept that we are all “lepers in need of healing”.  We work to identify the commonalities we have instead by realizing that we all have gone through suffering – that trauma is a spectrum and not a hierarchy.  We see others through the eyes of Christ.  Allowing them to reveal their true selves (their hopes and heartaches) so that we can resonate with elements of their story just as we would like them to resonate with ours.

We do not:

            Become overbearing, overpowering, rude, or try to control situations and/or people.  Loud voices and aggressive language is frightening and unhealthy.  We never lash out at others and we can always ask our leader to get the group back on track.

Instead we:

            Use compassion and calmness. We dismiss ourselves and take a “self time out” if we begin to get upset with something or someone.  We work to peacefully resolve our conflicts.  We acknowledge that UP Wild Church is not for everyone. And that is okay.  We are seeking to create an alternative Christian community that has never existed for many of us- and it’s not always easy but it’s worth it.