We believe that there is unity in the great diversity of this world God has created.
In the beginning, God created the world and all that is in and then called it good. Acknowledging the image of God within, we believe God loves the magnificent diversity of humankind and calls us to share this loving-kindness with one another. We celebrate this unity in the sacrament of baptism which we recognize as a visible sign of an invisible grace. And we honor this unity at the Lord's Table where all are invited to share the bread of life and the cup of salvation in the sacrament of repentance and forgiveness.
We believe that the Spirit calls us to listen to people whom both the church and culture have silenced. Therefore we welcome full and open participation in our congregational life together regardless of one's attributes, abilities, or assets.
We believe that the church is called to learn and grow in it's mission.
The mission of God pertains not only to the Church but also to people everywhere and to all creation.
As we participate in God's mission, we seek:
--Paraphrasing statements we strongly affirm from the Presbyterian Church USA - Book of Order.
In the beginning, God created the world and all that is in and then called it good. Acknowledging the image of God within, we believe God loves the magnificent diversity of humankind and calls us to share this loving-kindness with one another. We celebrate this unity in the sacrament of baptism which we recognize as a visible sign of an invisible grace. And we honor this unity at the Lord's Table where all are invited to share the bread of life and the cup of salvation in the sacrament of repentance and forgiveness.
We believe that the Spirit calls us to listen to people whom both the church and culture have silenced. Therefore we welcome full and open participation in our congregational life together regardless of one's attributes, abilities, or assets.
We believe that the church is called to learn and grow in it's mission.
The mission of God pertains not only to the Church but also to people everywhere and to all creation.
As we participate in God's mission, we seek:
- a new openness to the soverign activity of God in the church and in the world, to a more radical obedience to Christ, and to a more joyous celebration in worship and work,
- a new openness in our own membership, becoming in fact as well as in faith a commmunity that welcomes all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, and worldly conditions, and that affirms and celebrates loving relationships, as we are made one in Christ by the power of the Spirit, as a visible sign of the new humanity,
- a new openness to see both the possibilities and the perils of our institutional forms in order to ensure the faithfulness and usefulness of these forms to God's activity in the world, and;
- a new openness to God's continuing reformation of the Church ecumenical, that it might be more effective in its mission.
--Paraphrasing statements we strongly affirm from the Presbyterian Church USA - Book of Order.