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| THIS ISN’T KANSAS ANYMORE, OR IS IT? |
page 8 |
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At the time of this writing, I am sitting in the
Congregational Library at 14 Beacon St. in Boston, leading the
Boston Seminar for CFTS students, interested laity and clergy.
With the Kansas City Annual Meeting fresh on my mind, I am
struck, once again, by the bronze plaque of the 1913 Kansas City
Statement of Faith in the foyer of the Congregational Library. I
share it here as it is an important reminder of our history as
well as, perhaps, our future.
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Kansas City Statement of Faith |
Faith
We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, goodness, and
love, and in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord and Savior, who for
us and for our salvation lived and died and rose again and
liveth evermore, and in the Holy Spirit, who taketh of the
things of Christ and revealeth them to us, renewing, comforting,
and inspiring the souls of men.
We are united in striving to know the will of God as taught in
the Holy Scriptures and in our purpose to walk in the ways of
the Lord, made known or to be made known to us.
We hold it to be the mission of the Church of Christ to proclaim
the Gospel to all mankind, exalting the worship of the one true
God, and laboring for the progress of knowledge, the promotion
of justice, the reign of peace, and the realization of human
brotherhood.
Depending, as did our fathers, upon the continued guidance of
the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, we work and pray for
the transformation of the world into the Kingdom of God, and we
look with faith for the triumph of righteousness, and the life
everlasting.
Polity
We believe in the freedom and responsibility of the individual
soul, and the right of private judgment. We hold to the autonomy
of the local church and its independence of all ecclesiastical
control.
We cherish the fellowship of the churches, united in district,
state, and national bodies, for counsel and cooperation in
matters of common concern.
The Wider Fellowship
While affirming the liberty of our churches, and the validity of
our ministry, we hold to the unity and catholicity of the Church
of Christ, and will unite with all its branches in hearty
cooperation; and will earnestly seek, so far as in us lies, that
the prayer of our Lord for his disciples may be answered, that
they all may be one.
This concise statement is an affirmation of the faith that our
forbearers confessed, as expressed in the context of their age,
through historic creeds, both parochial and universal. It
affirms that the knowledge of God’s will, walking in our Lord’s
way and discerning God’s truths is something we must continually
strive to know, thus reflecting John Robinson’s faith that there
is “yet more light and truth to break forth from God’s Holy
word.” Ever learning the ways of Christ, ever seeking the truths
of God is the celebrated path of discipleship. To stand in our
human state of the already-not-yet Kingdom of God, thinking we
have come to the full knowledge of truth is an act of spiritual
hubris. Herein we exercise our God given freedom, with all its
responsibility, as the Holy Spirit leads us in privately judging
matters of soul and conscience. Consequently we earnestly seek
hearty cooperation with all who seek God’s truth as revealed by
Christ: we fellowship, for mutual edification, one with another
and as gathered community with gathered community. |
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Rev. Dr. Donald P. Olsen
Associate Executive Secretary |
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