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Our Purpose: To bless the whole world in the spirit of Jesus.
Our Vision: Fostering and bridging faith communities with the heart to serve others by seeking justice and dignity for all people in many ways, including fair trade.
As a faith community we see ourselves as small groups/house churches that discern together what God is up to in the world and how we can help. We base our lives around Micah 6:8, "And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?"
1. Doing Justice:
Salvation is free. Following Christ will cost you everything. We strive to do justice in several ways:
Fair Trade Shop – we sell items made by artisans and grown by farmers in developing countries so they can support their families with a living wage
Global Mission Events - Events held to highlight the fair trade and global missions in developing countries.
And in a variety of other developing ways...
2. Loving Kindness:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all in one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
Fellowship is a key part of our life together. We like to laugh and have a good time, serving people in need both globally and locally, in order to help them make a better life for themselves. We also demonstrate kindness through inclusive language that does not segregate based on gender, race or economic status. We regard ethnic and economic diversity as a central demonstration of our kindness toward each other.
3. Walking Humbly:
Walking in humility is a key component in relation to society, the people we serve and the people we serve with. As Charles Ringma says in his book Let My People Go with Dr. Martin Luther King, "One’s most basic stance in the world is first of all not as an activist but as a contemplative. We are called to the task of discernment before we are called to the responsibility of service. We must first be the discerners of our time before we can engage the world in loving and responsible action."
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As a group of churches, we are:
...a Missional Church
As it says in the book Missional Church – A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America edited by Darrell L. Guder, "We believe that we are the church, that is, we are a community of God’s people called and set apart for witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. We are blessed to be a blessing. As the Father has sent Christ, so Christ sends us. Jesus Christ has defined us as his witnesses where we are. We believe therefore that the Holy Spirit not only calls us but also enables and gifts us for that mission. Our task is to determine the particular focus and direction of our mission. We are to identify the charisms given us by the Spirit for mission. We have the responsibility and the capacity, through the Holy Spirit, to shape ourselves for faithful witness. Our purpose defines our organizational structures – which means that our mission challenges us to re-form our structures so that we can be faithful in our witness."
...a Circle of Trust - in small groups
As Parker J. Palmer says in A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward An Undivided Life – Welcoming the Soul and Weaving Community in a Wounded World "…we speak our own truth; we listen receptively to the truth of others; we ask each other honest, open questions instead of giving counsel; and we offer each other the healing and empowering gifts of silence and laughter."
...a community dwelling in the Word
A practice of deep listening to a scriptural passage and to a friendly partner’s perceptions of that passage, shared with others. This is an important way of discerning what God would have us do.
...a communal body meeting in homes
"We must surrender the self-conception of the church as a voluntary association of individuals and live by the recognition that we are a communal body of Christ’s followers, mutually committed and responsible to one another and to the mission Jesus set us upon at his resurrection." Missional Church – A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America edited by Darrell L. Guder
Wolfgang Simpson says in Houses That Change the World – The Return of House Churches, "But God is today reclaiming our very homes for Christ. As our homes are again becoming the natural habitat for the church, the down-to-earth community of the redeemed, Christianity in turn becomes a powerful testimony as the place where it counts most: next door."
"But those who want to be Christians in earnest and who profess the gospel with hand and mouth should sign their names and meet alone in a house somewhere to pray, to read, to baptize, to receive the sacrament, and to do other Christian work."
- Martin Luther (1526)
...multiplying disciples:
As Jesus says, "Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19
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Affiliation
The Reformed Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Bridge includes Christ-first, small group / house churches with biblically faithful Christian theology anchored in a Lutheran and Reformed heritage, enlivened by the passion for justice of the Faith and Justice Churches Congregational Network, and blessed by an apostolic Christian spirit of generosity and grace.
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Statement of Faith
This statement of faith calls us to service in our daily lives and commitment to core spiritual practices that equip and strengthen us for this service. These practices include praying, listening, reading scripture and worshipping.
We [the Bridge] ...believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
Amen.