our gathering guidelines
Let's let our gospel identity lead to gospel relating!
the shape of our relating…
We keep Jesus as the focus…
We bring our honest, unpolished selves...
We guard what is shared...
We make room for every voice…
We give lavishly and give credit…
We grieve and celebrate freely…
more specifically….
we agree to…
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We gather around the person and work of Jesus and the good news of the gospel. We come from many traditions, so we hold our secondary differences with open hands and charity. When we see things differently, we stay curious and kind. Our unity is in Christ, and our aim is to behold Him together..
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We can arrive curled up in a ball - we call that being “on the mat” or in all our shining glory! We listen to understand, and we answer struggle with presence and the gospel, not quick fixes or unasked-for advice.
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The choir sounds better the more voices join in. We share the time generously, speak in short turns, and invite in the women who haven't spoken yet. We honor every age, stage, culture and accent. We are present with each other: cameras on when you can, distractions set aside.
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What is shared here stays here. We keep one another's stories confidential and don't record, screenshot or repeat anything personal outside the group. Here you are free to be vulnerable without pressure or comparison, because each woman's story is her own and every story is held with grace.
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We cheer each other's wins, give credit gladly, and lift other women's voices and work. Nobody is keeping score, and nobody needs to perform. We come to receive grace and to pass it on. Our gatherings are places of welcome, so we leave selling, recruiting and promoting at the door unless the hosts invite it.
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This is a place to exhale. You may share a "finally, I see it!" moment of joy or a minor-key song of lament, and both are welcome and belong.
core beliefs @ unpolished press…
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What We Believe...
We believe the Bible is God's Word. Every page is true, trustworthy, and without error, because God himself breathed it out. It tells us who God is, who we are, and how to live (2 Timothy 3:16–17). It reveals God's heart of steadfast love and faithfulness and his desire to live face to face with us eternally.
The Bible is not a rulebook or a collection of moral tips. It is one big, true story, and Jesus is the hero (Luke 24:27). It is God's story, and by his grace, our story too. The story unfolds in four parts: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.
The God of this story is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each is fully God, and together they are one (Matthew 28:19).
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Creation
In the beginning, God made everything out of nothing, simply by speaking (Genesis 1:1). He made the world good, and he rules over all of it.
God made men and women in his own image (Genesis 1:27). That means every woman, from every family, nation, and background, has worth and dignity because she reflects her Maker. All the beautiful longings we have in this life such as to be seen, loved, known, enjoyed, to have healthy relationships with God and others, and to have meaningful work are God woven into our being. Yes, we were made to know God, love him, enjoy him, and care for his world together!
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Fall
Adam and Eve chose their own way instead of God's, and sin broke everything (Genesis 3). Since then, every one of us is born a sinner. Sin touches every part of us: our hearts, minds, desires, and choices (Romans 3:23).
On our own, we cannot fix ourselves or earn our way back to God. Sin separates us from him and brings guilt, shame, and death. It also brings brokenness into our lives, our relationships, and our world. We are not just a little unpolished. Apart from God's grace, we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1).
This “tragic intrusion of sin and death” leave us looking back to everything that was lost - garden with God living - and looking forward toward something better - knowing that this cannot be all there is. See Scotty Smith’s narrative on God’s Story associated with the same-titled painting by David Arms.
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Redemption
Before the world began, God had a plan to save a people for himself, and he keeps every promise he makes (Ephesians 1:4–5). At just the right time, he sent his Son. Ahhhh...
Jesus is fully God and fully human. He was born of the virgin Mary and lived the perfect life we could never live. On the cross, he took the punishment our sin deserved, in our place (2 Corinthians 5:21). Three days later, he rose bodily from the grave, defeating sin and death.
We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8–9). Not by being good enough or polished enough. When we trust Jesus, God forgives us, declares us right with him by giving us Christ's righteous record, and welcomes us as his daughters.
The Holy Spirit gives us new hearts and the faith to believe. He lives in us, helps us grow to be more like Jesus, and keeps us to the end. God joins us to his church, a family from every nation, where we worship, hear his Word, share in baptism and the Lord's Supper, and walk through life together.
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Restoration
Jesus is coming back, in person, to finish what he started (Acts 1:11). He will raise the dead, judge the world with perfect justice, and make a new heaven and a new earth.
There will be no more sin, tears, pain, or death (Revelation 21:4). Women and men from every tribe, language, and nation will live with God forever, fully healed and whole (Revelation 7:9). What was broken will be made beautiful, every creation longing fulfilled.
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Our Story of Grace...
This is why we are Unpolished. We don't come to God cleaned up. We come as we are, and he meets us with grace. Our lives, messy and unfinished, are being written into his bigger story, a story that ends with Jesus making all things new. As my grandson once said, "Jami, all this stuff about Jesus...we need to write this down...we should put it in a book...people need to know about this!" "Yes, Archer, God thought so too...and he did! He wanted everyone to know how much he loved them and how to be in his forever family."