From spfldcob@efn.org Sun Mar 28 17:40:44 1999 Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 17:39:54 -0800 (PST) From: Springfield Church of the Brethren To: Springfield Church of the Brethren Subject: Foundation Statements FOUNDATION STATEMENTS of the Springfield Church of the Brethren as of 1991 God empowers. We recognize and accept the presence of the Spirit of God within us, and we confess Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Light. We are among the poor: none of us is whole, and we cannot become whole alone. Therefore we seek our sisters and brothers and seek Christ in all. We welcome the gifts and insights of those outside our community. Likewise, we invite others into our fellowship, to unite their gifts with ours, and to share in our faith journey. We earnestly desire to include all, regardless of gender, age, race, nationality, mental and/or physical challenge, sexual orientation, or any other diversity we may have. We want an intimate and involved community where everyone belongs. We yearn for spiritual and emotional inter-dependence and maturation evolving together, like an extended family. We recognize and cherish our Church of the Brethren heritage, our Anabaptist and Pietist roots. We encourage all to be individually discerning in the context of our faith community. Not recognizing national enemies, we affirm our traditions of pacifism and non- conformism. We wish to be a loving, intentional, spiritual community, sharing our pain and vulnerability, celebration and joy. We treasure our children and want to provide them with a whole and nurturing environment for growth and health. We recognize we live in one world, with limited resources and environmental vulnerability. We wish to lead the world to a better place by our own sensitivity to these realities. We recognize a variety of gifts: the gift of tearing down, the gift of building up; being warriors, being healers; being prophets, being priests. We believe all belong. We seek a world of peace with justice for all. Recognizing that none of us is whole, we desire mutual mission with God's children throughout the world, that we all may become whole and share God's shalom. In this Spirit, we commit ourselves to our life together as the Springfield Church of the Brethren. Adopted at the Congregational Assembly, April 21, 1991.