Mission Statement Commentary
You can also see the commentary as footnoted to the mission statement here.
The parish wished to describe the warm community that characterized St. Bartholomew's. "Welcoming" conveys our eagerness to be friendly, neighborly and accepting of people who arrive with various stories, needs and desires. "Diverse" was used to convey "multicultural" and "multigenerational." We had once been a very WASPY church, but we seek to share the strengths of many different world-views and traditions. "Fellowship" is the broad word we are using for "community" and "friendliness" and "mutual encouragement."
The church gathers people. It is in meeting that we create the soft connections that open spaces for people to trust each other. In times of war and hope we gather to witness to God through praising him, an act that makes the soul whole. We do this joyfully, for that is the direction of our journey, and we do this thoughtfully, allowing the voice of God to pierce the stillness of our hearts.
In an atomized, individualized, lonely and mobile society, the church provides roots, through the inherited wisdom of the church as found in the witness of the apostles and those who responded to God's love in peace. We say "tradition" not because we are stodgy, ill-tempered, and nostalgic, but because we think there our traditions generally convey wisdom that is beneficial for the heart, mind and soul.
We say "open" to convey a humble and curious perspective towards the changes in the world. By "progressive" we mean that we look forward with anticipation and hope. We believe in the compatibility of faith with evolution, the ordination of women to the sacred and holy order of presbyters, and the merit of interfaith engagement.
Our soup kitchen, service, outreach, and care for the marginalized is most accurately described as working for justice. True service and outreach is justice. True caring is justice. The word "advocate" alludes to the work of our savior Jesus, who defends us through the overwhelming, world-transforming power of his love against the temptations of envy that characterize modern life.
We engage scripture with the useful, accurate tools of modern thought. As Augustine said, "all truth" is one, and as Christians our entry is through working with the Bible as our Holy text.
God's revealing power is Jesus Christ, who witnessed and uncovered the hidden cruelty in our world, and offering an alternative through the peace he offered his disciples with his love. By accepting his life as Life incarnate, we begin to have a glimmer of the eternal feast that awaits us through this new, and empowering understanding of how God truly works: the communication of love, the WORD.