Silverside Church has served Wilmington (and beyond) for more than 170 years. The congregationbs hallmarks are its desire to be diverse, its affirmation of progressive theological perspectives, its appreciation of meaningful preaching and beautiful music, its membersb love for each other, and its commitment to serve others in the spirit of Jesus as best we can understand his ministry and message. The church is not and never has been a creedal congregation. It continues to choose to invest substantially in the national and international missions programs of the American Baptist Churches/USA, and it affirms historic Baptist principles such as separation of church and state as well as an individualbs direct access to God. There is, however no expectation and no precedent that prospective members have any specific denominational background. We are an interdenominational community. In recent years, the church has aligned itself theologically with the Center for Progressive Christianity (www.tcpc.org). The Center for Progressive Christianty affirms 8 guidelines (accessible by going to its website given above). The first two are of utmost importance to the members and friends of Silverside Church: 1. Progressive Christians are those who have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus. We are unapologetically and enthusiastically committed to trying to understand what Jesus taught and to trying to live out lives of service to others as we believe he did. Jesus pointed those with whom he came into contact to God, and we find that getting into touch with his teachings inevitably gives us the courage to open our hearts to God within us. 2. The second of these affirmations is where we really find ourselves diverging widely from traditional Christianity. Progressive Christians recognize the faithfulness of many non-Christians who have other names for the way to GodC-s realm. We affirm the validity of their search and their conclusions and continue by affirming that their conclusions are as true for them as ours to us.