We believe the bridge of searching and service that has long connected All Saints’ Church, Mount Holyoke College, and the Town of South Hadley calls us to be leaders in building and sustaining relationships across societal barriers. We embrace our founding as an Episcopal center for college women, and our roots in the center of town; we dedicate ourselves to being actively involved in the community. We commit to utilizing a wide range of communication vehicles that will enable increased visibility and access, enabling deeper relationships, and enriching the minds and the souls of all who seek meaning and hunger for God.
Our sixth core value calls us to a ministry of connection. Christian communities must be leaders in breaking down societal barriers and in establishing relationships among seemingly disparate people, groups, ideas, and ideals. In a world that is increasingly divided and damaged, hostile and hurried, All Saints’ Church has the opportunity to speak the truth in love, to model alternative priorities, and to draw the community together in the name of healing and wholeness.
Connection is about partnering with the town and surrounding areas, with other faith communities, and with Mount Holyoke College. We value current connections through ecumenical partnerships, from our history of relationship with the college and the students, faculty and staff who attend worship, and in our many personal relationships with local leaders.
Connection is also about communication; to connect with each other we must be able to communicate who we are and what we offer, and to join in conversation with others. Our current communications are supported by the website, an e-mail list, a Facebook group, outside signage, bulletin boards, a phone tree, the answering machine, Sunday morning announcements, The Compass, and the weekly service bulletin.
We endeavor to be faithful and responsible members of the communities we serve, to embrace our roots and accept our vocation, to grow numerically and spiritually, and to live from an understanding that no one group is as strong as when it joins with others.