Tuesday, January 26, 2010

speaking of faith

back in december, i was asked to become a deacon at my church. i was honored by the invitation, and accepted. while this brings my number of church-related activities to a somewhat concerning level, i am intrigued by the chance to serve others in a different way than i have before. and it falls in line with my intention of being with people at church outside of my own peer group (frankly, i find the people outside of my peer group a lot more interesting. there are exceptions, of course.)

so i get voted in at our annual general meeting in a few weeks. i had to write a statement of faith, and true to procrastination form, i just finished writing it - it was due earlier today. make the assignment 12 pages longer and throw in a late night run to 7-11 to mail it in, and it's just like regent days all over again. man, that makes me kind of want some of those 25 cent gummy candies you could pick and choose. or some all-dressed potato chips.

if you are so inclined, you can read what i wrote below. or you can just skip farther down and watch that chris farley el nino video in that last entry, because that still makes me laugh every time i see it.

I believe in the fellowship of the Trinity of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We have been invited into this fellowship; we were made for this. I believe that we chose to live our own way, and broke this relationship through sin.

I believe that God has never given up on us. He relentlessly pursues us with his love and grace. I believe that he has created everything in this world, and thus all is sacred, even in its ordinary-ness. I believe that he has passed this creative spirit on to us, as we bear his image, and we are intended to play a role in the inbreaking of His kingdom.

I believe in the incarnation of Jesus, in his humanity and divinity. I believe that he laughed, and that he cried. God sent him to restore creation and bring reconciliation. I believe that this has happened and is happening. I believe that heaven is coming here.

I believe in the everyday empowering work of the Holy Spirit. She is the great comforter and counselor, interceding for us with groans that words cannot express.

I believe that we, the church, are a broken people that are grieved by what grieves God. We are called to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. I believe in breaking bread together, and that our vocation is to practice hospitality and generosity and to remember what it means to be human.


2 comments:

dan said...

I love that the comment above showed up on your statement of faith. Ha!

audrey said...

i know! i was going to delete it, but it makes me laugh.