Statement of Faith

I believe God would rather we have a good question than the right answer. Good questions deepen our relationship with God. Answers let us trust in ourselves. God desires a relationship, and no matter how “right” our answers may be, our ability to understand God is limited. God is able to do abundantly far more than we could ask or even imagine, and we see only in a mirror, dimly. There is a reason the people of God have long been known by the name of one who wrestled with God.

As we wrestle with God, scripture reminds us of who we are, and whose we are. The same God who created the heavens and the earth, who fills them will all that exists, also redeemed us, adopting us into God’s own household through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Through Christ’s death and resurrection we are rescued and liberated from our frailties and failings, which we call sin. Through Christ’s teachings, we see how we can live our lives abundantly, embodying the joy and justice of the gospel as our lives testify to how, in Christ, the kingdom of God has come near. Through Christ and in Christ, we belong to God in life and in death.

God loves us so fiercely that God will not let us go. Our story is part of God’s ongoing story. In Christ, the end of our story is already written, yet it is still up to us to spell that story out. God the Holy Spirit equips and guides us as we do the important work of discipleship. The Holy Spirit urges us towards better questions, toward holier service, and toward closer relationship with God. The Holy Spirit shows us that God still intervenes in the world with righteous love, and calls us to follow Jesus no matter where he is leading us. This is true both of particular disciples and of the covenant community, the Church.

The primary mission of the Church is to share the good news of Jesus Christ, and to teach people how to live differently in response to that good news. The Church as an institution is a means, not an end. The Church is a way through which God has been active in, and identified to, the world. God continues to act through the church, even as God reforms us to accomplish God’s will for the Church and for the world. The Holy Spirit guides the Church and equips it for the ministry to which God calls us. I believe the Church is uniquely equipped to help people recognize God and to build a relationship with God. If we want to follow Jesus, we must recognize that God’s righteous love is relentlessly transformative, and to resist that transformation is to resist God’s love. We must not be self-righteous or wise in our own eyes, but rather should walk humbly with God by listening for wise questions that help us to deepen our relationship with our Lord.

Because God loves us and desires a relationship with us, God would rather we have good question than the right answer. In the light of the resurrection, the question is no longer, “What must I do to inherit the kingdom,” but rather, “How can I best glorify God and enjoy God forever?”