A Community of Faith

First, a community.  A gathering which experiences a connection amongst the members; a group of people who are intentionally gathered for a shared purpose.

Congregations can be corporate entities or they can be communities (who have corporate/legal structure).  When a congregation is a community, people know that they are a part of something bigger than themselves - which is capable of things beyond the individuals' capacity.  They know that they contribute to the bigger whole.

Here is the take of one 'de-churched' individual (once active, now not) speaking especially about church leaders:

“What I value now is proximity. The only leaders I care to hear are those willing to know me and be known. Not in some official capacity over Starbucks with their church credit card in hand. But with a friend, a person living honestly in their own right with no agenda or ‘line’ to keep--but possessing the strength of character to have their own voice, doubts and convictions.”

All of which leads to the second word, faith.  Faith is not a destination but a journey, and for us it is a journey empowered by the Holy Spirit in the discipleship of Jesus Christ.  We have folks all along the road: at different points, with different motivations and different understandings, but what we share is the trust that this God in Jesus Christ is the way.  So when we gather as a community, we share our stories of faith, we seek ways to incarnate our convictions and help others, we confess our shortcomings in the presence of others who believe.

We are a community of faith, by God's calling in Christ Jesus and powered by the Holy Spirit.
For this we continually give thanks.