I believe in God, who is the maker of heaven and earth and all that is within it. I trust fully that the world that was created is indeed “good” and deserves our care and protection from the effects of destruction, misuse and abuse. This includes the earth itself and all the wonderful varieties of creatures that live in it. I care for the earth through organic gardening with the seminary community, supporting local farmers, and caring for my family by canning and preserving our own food for consumption. Encompassing us all, God is powerful and meek, loving and vengeful, father and mother, king and servant. I believe that God knows all things but has given the gift of free will to humanity, not as a burden but as a something to be treasured and done with great care. I try to live up to that responsibility of choice in my own life and decision-making.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son, fully human, fully God, who came to earth to reconcile humanity back to God. It is through sin that humanity separates itself from God and one from another. As pastor, chaplain, and human, it is my goal to join with others as children of God so that we may be one in recognition and love. Through his life, Christ proclaimed the kingdom of God, preaching the good news to the poor and the release of the captive. Through his death, Christ was the ultimate sacrifice, claiming death for himself so that humanity could have eternal life. And through his resurrection, Christ becomes stronger than death, breaking the power of sin and evil. Christ returned to heaven to be with God until the time when he will come again for the full completion of the kingdom of God on earth. I trust that through the resurrection of Christ the bonds of sin have been released from creation and our response to that most grateful deed is to worship God who granted us that relief.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the giver of life and understanding, who hears and speaks for us in sighs too deep for words. With the Creator and the Son, the Holy Spirit is worshiped and glorified as one. I believe that the Holy Spirit has spoken through prophetic voices throughout times past and the time to come, including prophetic voices that have not been heard, but have been rejected, silenced, and destroyed by others. The prophetic voices of refugee’s waiting in line for days at the Kenyan government offices so they could get visa’s to stay, while I was escorted to the front of the line. The Holy Spirit speaks through the prophetic voice of the grieving mother in the Philadelphia emergency room who just lost her son to gun violence. It is these hidden voices that I feel called to hear. I believe that the Holy Spirit has spoken through Scripture which witnesses to the life and works of Christ and the Church. I believe that scripture is the inspired Word of God and is to be held in highest regard when interpreting the mission and life of the church and its people today. Scripture provides a unique witness to the life and ministry of Gods people and to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This witness is fundamental in the church’s understanding of itself and its mission in the world.
I believe in the one catholic Church, that we are all united through Christ through space and time, race and gender, age and geography. I take seriously the mission that Christ set forth for all his disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you,” while keeping in mind the greatest commandments that Christ identifies; to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. The mission of the church is to continue the peaceful reconciliation between one another and with God. I carry these commandments with me when I go see patients and families in the hospital, when I teach Sunday school, and when encountering the stranger.
I believe the sacraments of baptism and communion are essential for the nurture and nourishment of the Church and its people. Through the waters of baptism we are claimed as Christ’s own forever and welcomed into the family of God. The communion of bread and wine reminds us of Christ’s death and resurrection and through the filling of the Spirit we are joined with all others who partake in the elements. I look forward with great joy to the resurrection and the life of the world to come where all of Gods kingdom will come together, and it will be proclaimed good by all.
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