Streams of Mercy

I’ve always appreciated the Book of Confessions, which, along with the Book of Order, serves as the Constitution of our Presbyterian denomination. While many Presbyterian churches use the Apostles’ Creed every Sunday, I’ve always tended to use different confessions from Sunday to Sunday, giving voice to efforts to be faithful to the issues of years and years of history: the Confession of l967, addressing the need for reconciliation, The Declaration of Barmen, written in response to the actions of Adolf Hitler, The Westminster Confession, written at the time of the Reformation, the Brief Statement of Faith, written at the time of reunion of the northern and southern Presbyterian churches, and the Belhar Confession, written in response to apartheid. Yesterday I used a contemporary affirmation of faith, not in our Book of Confessions: An Affirmation of God’s Freeing Love” to support the sermon theme of giving what is uniquely ours to give.

A member once told me she liked the Apostles’ Creed, because it was the “real thing,” that all the other confessions were just people’ ideas, and she just wasn’t sure about them. I shared with her that the Apostles’ Creed was just that – people’s words in their time and place, stating their understanding and beliefs.

I read in this week’s Presbyterian News Release that a special sixteen-member committee consisting of teaching and ruling elders has been called together to consider a new confession, according to Rick Jones, of the Office of the General Assembly.

“The writing of a confession that speaks of the intersection of our faith with the challenges of contemporary culture is one of the most important tasks to which a church is called. It offers an unapologetic affirmation of how we are to embody our faith in the midst of real and present challenges reflected in systemic structures that perpetuate racism, injustices of all kinds and ecological indifference to the planet we call home. We are grateful for these saints who will put their hearts and pen to paper in an effort to offer words reflecting those values for a time such as this.”

Presbyterian churches are “confessional churches” and in most Presbyterian churches each worship service includes an Affirmation or Confession of Faith, to say or to affirm what we believe. I’ve always been comforted and challenged by these faithful statements of understanding coming forth from generation to generation. I look forward to hearing the words coming to affirm our faithfulness in such a time as this.

Elizabeth