BLOG ..BLOGUE

News from SouthWest ..Des nouvelles du Sud-Ouest

Ministry Guest User Ministry Guest User

A Song of Faith

In 2006, the United Church published A Song of Faith. It was introduced as follows:

PREAMBLE

This statement of faith seeks to provide a verbal picture of what The United Church of Canada understands its faith to be in its current historical, political, social, and theological context at the beginning of the 21st century. It is also a means of ongoing reflection and an invitation for the church to live out its convictions in relation to the world in which we live.

The church’s faith is grounded in truths that are timeless. These truths, however, must be embraced anew by Christians of each generation and stated “in terms of the thoughts of their own age and with the emphasis their age needs” (Statement of Faith, 1940).

          This is not the first time the United Church has formally expressed its collective faith. In the Basis of Union (1925), in the Statement of Faith (1940), and in A New Creed (1968), the United Church stated its faith in words appropriate to its time. This current statement of faith is offered within that tradition, and in response to the request of the 37th General Council (2000) for a “timely and contextual statement of faith” that especially engages “the church in conversation on the nature of the church (ecclesiology), ministry and the sacraments.”

          This statement of faith attempts to reflect the spirit of The United Church of Canada and to respond to various defining elements in our social, political, and historical context, including the place of the church in society, the cultural and intellectual setting in which we find ourselves, the meaning of “truth,” the impact of the market economy on our daily lives, and the growing issue of the meaning of “security.” These contextual elements are further explored in the appendices to this document.

          This is not a statement for all time but for our time. In as much as the Spirit keeps faith with us, we can express our understanding of the Holy with confidence. And in as much as the Spirit is vast and wild, we recognize that our understanding of the Holy is always partial and limited. Nonetheless we have faith, and this statement collects the meaning of our song.

 With much fanfare, United Churches across the country were asked to vote on its acceptance.

Sixteen years have passed and where is that beautiful Song of Faith?  How many of us even remember it?

Last evening, Nakonha:ka Regional Council hosted an informal conversation with our new Regional Council president, Marc Grenon and he began the conversation with the opening words from A Song of Faith.

 

I, too, had forgotten how poignant they were and would like to share them with you this week.  In fact, it might be the time is ripe to reflect on A Song of Faith once again.

 

Hereunder are the opening words Marc shared, reminiscent of the creation story in Genesis:

Grateful for God’s loving action, we cannot keep from singing...

God is Holy Mystery,

beyond complete knowledge,

above perfect description.

 

Yet,

in love,

the one eternal God seeks relationship.

 

So, God creates the universe

and with it the possibility of being and relating.

God tends the universe,

mending the broken and reconciling the estranged.

God enlivens the universe,

guiding all things toward harmony with their Source.

 

Grateful for God’s loving action,

We cannot keep from singing.

 

With the Church through the ages,

we speak of God as one and triune:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We also speak of God as

Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer

God, Christ, and Spirit

Mother, Friend, and Comforter

Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love,

and in other ways that speak faithfully of

the One on whom our hearts rely,

the fully shared life at the heart of the universe.

 

We witness to Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love.

 

Over the coming weeks, I would like to share with you excerpts from this beautiful poetry in the hope that your hearts too may be touched and you might find renewed energy in your faith beliefs and in your daily living.

In peace

Pastor Beryl

photo credit: Joyce Cosby
Read More
Ministry Guest User Ministry Guest User

The Season of Creation: September 2, 2022

Many Churches celebrate September as the Season of Creation.

Over the past three years, SouthWest United has participated in this event, with each Sunday being the focus of a particular part of creation.  The first Sunday is celebrated as Ocean Sunday.  The second Sunday is Fauna and Flora Sunday, followed by Storm Sunday and Cosmos Sunday.

This year, September 1st will be celebrated as The World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation.  As Pope Francis was so prominent in Canadian news in response to a request for an apology to First Nation People, I thought we might share in his prayer for this year.

A Prayer for Our Earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

 

O God of the poor,
Help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the whole of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day. 

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggles for justice, love and peace.

-      From Pope Francis, Laudato Si

As we give thanks for the beauty of the summer and the hope of the harvest to come, I hope you will take a little time to give thought to the great gift of creation which has sustained us over the centuries and which, with the care and love of all, will continue to be a blessed home for all of creation.

In peace, Pastor Beryl, DLM

Read More