The Journey Church is a life-giving, inclusive, multi-ethnic church in urban Harrisburg, PA, where our desire is to help people find belonging, experience the liberative spirit of Jesus, seek justice in the world, and radically love our neighbors.
We believe that through the empowerment and love of the Holy Spirit, we are able to make a space where all are welcome, address difficult topics in love, acknowledge our differences and find deep belonging regardless of our differences. We celebrate the diverse nature of our community that spans generations, ethnicities, socio-economic status, sexual orientations, gender identities, and spiritual backgrounds.
We remain intentional about spiritual formation in and outside the church walls, including inspiring multi-ethnic worship, community groups that foster deep belonging,
and a shared commitment to seeking the welfare of our city.
The Journey Church is life-giving, inclusive, multi-ethnic church in urban Harrisburg, PA, where our desire is to help people find belonging, experience the liberative spirit of Jesus, seek justice in the world, and radically love our neighbors.
We believe that through the empowerment and love of the Holy Spirit, we are able to make a space where all are welcome, address difficult topics in love, acknowledge our differences and find deep belonging regardless of our differences. We celebrate the diverse nature of our community that spans generations, ethnicities, socio-economic status, sexual orientations, gender identities, and spiritual backgrounds.
We remain intentional about spiritual formation in and outside the church walls, including inspiring multi-ethnic worship, community groups that foster deep belonging,
and a shared commitment to seeking the welfare of our city.
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Journey of Harrisburg declaratively states that
Black Lives Matter.
We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement and with individuals and organizations around the country and here in Dauphin County. We call for collective action and an immediate end to systemic racism and inequality that is deeply rooted in the history of our country and continues to live in our communities.
The Journey acknowledges and commits to the work we must do within ourselves and our congregation to address our own racism and involvement. We join with our community efforts that find sustainable solutions to create a world where Black people need not fear for their lives. We stand against violence and racism toward the Black community.
We believe private and public moments of prayer are essential for our relationship with God. Through prayer, we enter into communication with our Savior, through the Holy Spirit.
We believe generosity is the best way to live our lives! Throughout the Bible, we read a challenge to be generous with our money, time, resources, and life as a way to express love toward God and other people.
We serve an infinitely good God, who is worthy of our praise! We worship to express our love and connection to one another.
In our world of bad news, we have Good News to share with Harrisburg and the world. We are dedicated to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone so they too may experience the joy of a life with Christ!
God gave us the Bible so that we may better understand and know how God is active in the world. We believe scripture to be divinely inspired truth and hold it at the center of our teaching.
We are marked as followers of Christ by our love for others. Our service comes from the overflow of love first given to us by Christ where we feel compelled to share it with others.
We believe private and public moments of prayer are essential for our relationship with God. Through prayer, we enter into communication with our Savior, through the Holy Spirit.
We believe generosity is the best way to live our lives! Throughout the Bible, we read a challenge to be generous with our money, time, resources, and life as a way to express love toward God and other people.
We serve an infinitely good God, who is worthy of our praise! We worship to express our love and connection to one another.
In our world of bad news, we have Good News to share with Harrisburg and the world. We are dedicated to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone so they too may experience the joy of a life with Christ!
God gave us the Bible so that we may better understand and know how God is active in the world. We believe scripture to be divinely inspired truth and hold it at the center of our teaching.
We are marked as followers of Christ by our love for others. Our service comes from the overflow of love first given to us by Christ where we feel compelled to share it with others.
At The Journey we hold certain core beliefs to be true. If you want to learn more click to download the file now.
We believe the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired and holy Word of God – God-breathed. The scriptures are our source of knowledge about God and Christ and contains all the truth necessary for understanding our way to liberation, healing, and salvation. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
In the midst of the beautiful diversity of humanity, we believe that each person has been created in the image of God. Not only is each person created in the image of God, but they bare likeness of the Divine. Thus, each person (whether they are aware of it or not) embody the Divine in them, and we are invited to draw out this Divine spark in each other. (Genesis 1-2)
We believe God is one living and true God, but who forever (and mysteriously) exists in perfect community as three equal and fully divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each form of God, while having different but complementary roles in our lives, has the same nature, characteristics and being, and is worthy of equal praise and obedience. (Matthew 28:19-20; John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3-4)
We believe God the Father is the creator of the universe. God has unimaginable intelligence, infinite knowledge and is all-powerful. God has authority and control over all creation and yet desires to love us very personally as God’s children. (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; John 1:12- 13)
We believe Jesus Christ is uniquely God’s Son — fully God and yet fully human, sent by God to be born of a virgin, Mary. He lived a sinless life and serves as our role model for life on earth. Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead is the ultimate act of restoration of all personal and collective and systemic sins and evil in the world. It is because of the Cross that we have an image and knowledge that death, evil, and sin do not get the last word in the Christian story. God the Son, Jesus, restored all that was broken in the world, and continually fought for the least, last, and those with their backs up against the wall. Through Jesus, we are all brought into relationship with God. (2 Corinthians 5:19, Luke 21:27; John 1:1; Philippians 2:5-6; Luke 1:26-38; Hebrews 7:26; Acts 2:22; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Matthew 28:6; Acts 1:9-11)
We believe the Holy Spirit is God’s presence with us on earth today – our primary teacher, comforter, and source of God’s power. The Holy Spirit came in a new and mighty way upon Christians at Pentecost and is present in the world today. The Holy Spirit convinces the world of evil, sin and leads people to be part of justice, compassion, healing, and salvation in the world. (Acts 2; John 16:7-11; Romans 8)
We believe the Church is not a building: it’s the body of Christ, with Jesus Christ as the head. The Church is a contagious community called to be instruments of God’s presence and justice and healing in Jesus Christ. We’re called to live lives of compassion, justice, generosity, and peace in the world. (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; Matthew 28:18-20)
In baptism, we publicly acknowledge and celebrate the grace of God, freely offered to us before we were even aware of it. Baptism is a public sign and witness to the grace of God that began in each person at the moment of their birth. Baptism is the public sign of God’s covenant with us. As such, we celebrate the baptism of all people, including our youngest members in our faith community. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38-39, 16:15,33)
A promise of God is the hope and future of salvation, where healing, restoration, and shalom is present for all things that are broken in the world. As much as we look forward to the future promise of heaven, we are committed to experiencing salvation in the here and now. When Jesus prayed for God’s Kingdom to come in Matthew as part of the Lord’s Prayer, a portion centers on
people experiencing the promise of heaven “on earth.”
Our emphasis is less on a future destination at death, and more on living like Jesus and building God’s Kingdom in the world now. As such, salvation is seeking love, justice, and shalom rooted
in Christ’s life, teaching, and resurrection for all people. To create an earth for all people to experience the beauty of heaven. Hell remains the opposite of this. Hell is anything or structure or experience that lacks love, justice, and shalom in the world thwarting people of the abundant and good life that Jesus invites all people into in John 10:10. We focus less on eternal destinations (heaven or hell) recognizing that God is the ultimate decider of this. Our emphasis is being people who offer heaven-like moments with others through seeking justice, peace, love, and shalom in the world.
Ultimately it is the grace of God that propels all people into relationship with God. We believe in prevenient grace (grace of God that is with us from the beginning of our life), justifying grace (grace that leads us to seek restoration of all that is broken in our lives and world), and sanctifying grace (grace that leads us toward holiness and depth of faith). (John 1:9, 12:32; Romans 5:17; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Titus 2:11)
We believe the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired and holy Word of God – God-breathed. The scriptures are our source of knowledge about God and Christ and contains all the truth necessary for understanding our way to liberation, healing, and salvation. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
We believe communion is a remembrance of the suffering and death of Christ, and a way of drawing Christians’ focus back to the essentials of faith on a regular basis. We believe in an open table — all people are fully welcome at this table – that all who long for a connection with the Divine in their life and who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are welcome to participate in this blessing from God. (Luke 22:14-21)
As a faith community, The Journey welcomes and honors people of all races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, religious backgrounds, physical and mental abilities, ages, perspectives, economic or immigration status, as beloved by God and of equal worth and dignity.
We do invite all people, including LGBTQ+ persons, into full participation within our church. Participation includes but is not limited to, leadership roles, paid and unpaid staff roles, worship
teams, attendance, serving, receiving the sacraments, and membership. We also invite LGBTQ+ individuals and their families to not only participate but to step into the discipleship journey and receive spiritual care that every sacred person deserves.
We believe it is our calling as a church to invite a diverse community of believers, who may not share every thought, to share in the care and burdens of one another. We pray that our unity be an expression of the grace and love we have received from Jesus Christ and that the same grace and love powers our connection within the body of our church, our community, and our world. (Psalm 139; Jeremiah 29:11; John 14:12; Romans 8:28-38)
The Journey fully affirms women in ministry leadership at all levels of church life, including teaching, preaching, and pastoral ministry. This value is rooted in what we believe to be the most faithful interpretation of Scripture, specifically in the equal gifting of the Holy Spirit in all people, the witness we see in both the Old and New Testaments of women called to lead in the work of God, and the example of Jesus throughout his ministry. As a church that desires to reflect the Kingdom of God and embody the beloved community, we believe that supporting the equal gifting and calling of women as well as men is a crucial part of participating in the restoration of what God originally intended for humanity. (Exodus 15:20; Judges 5:7; John 4:39, 20:11-18; Acts 2:4; Acts 18; Romans 16:1 & 7)
We are affiliated with the United Methodist Church, a Christian Protestant denomination that emphasizes God’s love and grace for all people, the intersection of spirituality and justice, and the calling to make a difference in the world.We are a multi-denominational community where people from diverse spiritual traditions and experiences – or no religious experience – can meaningfully connect with others to practice a faith that seeks deeper understanding of Jesus’ message of liberation and justice and participation with God’s activity in the world.
We are currently hiring! We are seeking a Director of Worship and Online Ministry. Click below to read the job description and submit a resume and cover letter to our Lead Pastor, Kris Sledge at ksledge@thejourneyhbg.org
Join us for Worship in-person and online on Sundays at 9 am & 11 am. We can’t wait to meet you!
We can’t wait to meet you! Let us know you’re coming so that our hospitality team and staff can welcome you!
