Our Core Beliefs
Our
parish is part of the broader Christian Church. That means it
stands by the beliefs of the first followers of Jesus Christ,
the apostles, whose beliefs were systematized in the statement
known as the Apostles' Creed.
Christians
live in and see a mixed up world where great beauty and goodness
is in tension with profound evil. They see a world made by God
and messed up by people, sometimes through violent terrorism,
sometimes through petty nastiness and sometimes through damaging
mistakes made in ignorance.
The
difference for Christians is that we have hope. Ultimately, it
is still God's world. While he gives us freedom to live life
our way, he has never let go of his world. Through the laws of
nature, he keeps our world going and regenerates it in strength
and beauty.
More
particularly, God wants to have a personal relationship with
each of us. Hence, through coming to our human community in the
form of Jesus Christ, God seeks to connect with each of us personally.
He offers us forgiveness and a quality of spiritual life that
never has to end. God shows his love for us because he suffered
for us even though most of us didn't care.
To come to any of the churches in our parish is to join with
a group of people who recognize that in historic time, not in
mythology, Jesus has shown us that God loves us.
That
is why we thank him, pray to him, draw on the power of his spirit
and submit to him, learning how to follow his example, because
we are confident that neither life nor death nor anything in
all creation can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.
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