This year our church Board put a lot of energy into what we
believe. An Awesome Faith: Inside Out and
Outside In was our theme. What we think affects what we do, and what we do
informs how we think.
As it is with individuals and congregations, so it is with
denominations. These last few years our United Church
has been examining what we believe – we have been so active in our communities,
governments and family lives that surely what we believe has been well toned.
Indeed. Our founding denominations created a Statement of
Faith just before the inauguration of the United Church
in 1925. The writers were quite clear that it was a statement of and for that
time. As the years have progressed, our articulations of faith have changed,
both in vocabulary and in content. Some articles of faith remain constant too.
Our founders made sure that we would not be a church that
requires subscription to a set of beliefs: we don’t shun or excommunicate
people for their faith. We encourage conversation, questions, growth,
experience, prayer, and the trust that comes from being honest about our doubts
as well as our convictions.
From sea to sea to sea, congregational and presbytery
leadership have voted clearly to add the 1940 Statement of Faith, We Are
Not Alone, and A Song of Faith to
our 1925 doctrine. We have the material at St. Paul ’s and you are welcome to look at it.
Or open united-church.ca and put Our Words of Faith or Remit 6 in the search
box. Truly An Awesome Faith: Inside Out and
Outside In.
Blessings,
The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean