Our Guiding Beliefs

Fortress’s first core value is that we are United in Christ. Within that unity, our staff, volunteers, and families represent a wide variety of creeds, doctrines, denominations, and individual practices. We respect and value the diversity of beliefs among our clients, staff and community, and our aim is to follow the heart of the Gospel — to love God and love others — while leaving room for many interpretations of single issues. We simply ask that our staff and certain volunteers (including summer mission groups) adopt and uphold these basic tenets of the Christian faith when working with our clients. Our guiding beliefs are as follows:

  1. God is the creator of the universe and everything in it. (Genesis 1:1, Nehemiah 9:6)

  2. As God’s creation, we are loved beyond measure and without condition. (Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 4:16, Romans 8:37-39, Psalm 136:26)

  3. Jesus, the Son of God, came to the world to live with us, love us, teach us, and ultimately died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins. (John 3:16, Galatians 4:4-5, Mark 4:45)

  4. There are two greatest commandments by which we are asked to live: to love God and to love others. (Matthew 22:37-40)

  5. Loving God and loving others is both a decision we make and an action we take. It means we pursue justice and peace in our lives and in the world around us. Our personal convictions vary, but we are united by Jesus’ summation of the law: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12)

Responsibilities in Teaching

Due to the faith-based nature of our programs, staff and volunteers have numerous opportunities to share their own faith practices with our students and families. We do not restrict employment or volunteerism on the basis of denominational affiliation or doctrinal practices; in fact, we encourage diverse representation!

All employees are responsible for upholding our guiding beliefs and participating in faith-based work activities, such as prayer and Bible lessons, on a regular basis. Not all volunteer positions require the same level of commitment, and therefore, not all volunteer positions have a shared faith requirement. The following requirements apply to all staff, as well as to any volunteers who are responsible for teaching and sharing the Word of God with our children and families.

  1. You must be willing and able to affirm our guiding beliefs. Volunteer groups must be from a Christian church or organization that can affirm those beliefs.

  2. You must be willing to teach Bible lessons that are both  age-appropriate and broadly applicable. Because we are not affiliated with a specific church and serve a diverse community of students and families, we abstain from teaching lessons which deal with divisive issues within churches, such as views on baptism, gender roles, and other doctrines which are widely debated among Christian churches.

  3. You must be willing to work cooperatively inter-denominationally with other staff and volunteers to fulfill the mission of Fortress.

If you have specific questions or concerns about how your doctrinal practices will align with our work, please do not hesitate to contact our Executive Director or Director of Programs & Impact!