Upstream Communities is the name of a network of people who live in and around the Brighton / Butler area.
Some of us would call ourselves Christians / followers of Jesus while others would say they are still exploring questions of faith. Wherever you are at in your spiritual journey you are welcome to be part of our community.
Our primary mission is to help ordinary Australian people explore the questions of spirituality and meaning we all face in the context of a Christian community and to live a life that is consistent with the answers to those questions - a life that reflects the priorities of Jesus.
We believe life is found in knowing God and living life as he intends. We have come to call this 'upstream living', a way of life that reflects the priorities of Jesus and intentionally challenges the dominant norms and values of Australian society.
* In a world that is self focused we hope to be unselfish, seeing others as more important than ourselves.
* In a world that is about upward mobility and affluence we hope to live lives of relative simplicity and contentment.
* In a world that is about busyness we hope to live slower, savouring life rather than rushing through it.
* In a world of disposable relationships we hope to live in authentic community, making time for friends and resolving conflicts when they arise.
The word 'hope' is used intentionally because we are constantly discovering how to do this.
If these are some of your hopes and if you'd like to join a bunch of people on a journey to discover how to live life as Jesus intended then we would love to hear from you.
If you'd like to know more about who we are then you can read about our DNA here, our 'distinctives' here and our 'un-distinctives' here. These pages are an attempt to describe how we may appear a little different to the 'church down the road'.
