We’ve been around for over a hundred years and what we’ve noticed is that we continue to return to a core set of values, things we believe are important to us. Knowing what’s important to us can help you know us better and it helps us as we plan for the future.

First off, we’ve been a part of the Evangelical Covenant Church for a very long time, and one reason we are is because so many of their values line up with ours. You can check out our affirmations here.

Here are some of our values, in no particular order.

Scripture – We believe the Bible is the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine & conduct.  God through His word directs us, inspires us, teaches us. This comes through in the ways we lean on it for direction in life.  We preach from it on Sundays and have classes, studies, and small groups who teach from it all week long. When some new idea would come up in church, the early Covenanters would ask “Where (in the Bible) is that written? We still do that.

Mission – Over the many years of our existence, Malmo has sent out at last count, twenty one full time missionaries. People who responded to God’s call to go out into all the world to make disciples and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Throughout all the years we still see this as a key part of who we are. Each year we send out a Missions team to Ecuador, and we still have individuals and families who go out for a short or very long term, so that others will know that Jesus loves them too.

Fellowship – Not as in church juice, bad coffee and gossip, but as in community. The church is not an institution, organization, or building. It is a grace-filled fellowship of believers who participate in the life and mission of Jesus Christ. It is a family of equals: as the New Testament teaches that within Christian community there is to be neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are one in Christ Jesus. We grow in Christ as we learn from and interact with one another. We were all made to be in community, including our young people and our children. Without it how could we learn to love and be loved?

Prayer –  Malmo began in 1898, out of a need for the community to have a prayer house. A place where people could gather to pray & worship & fellowship. This was at the heart of our beginning and continues to be the heartbeat of this place. We have regular prayer gatherings, we set aside a week of it at the start of the year, and practice it at all our meetings, not just Sundays. We’ve discovered that it’s not about presenting lists to God, it’s about our relationship with Him and with others around us.

The story of who we are and our values continues to be written. It will be exciting to see who we become in another hundred years, but for now this should help you to know us better.