Authentic, Creative, and Just…
This trio of adjectives are the qualities of our life together that sit central to the vision God has for this church. Our Vision Team centered on these descriptions in their work to develop the vision statement that now guides our work. As we consider the experience of being the church in this place, we want this collection of virtues to serve as both expectation and aspiration. If others might wonder what to expect from Prince of Peace, then let this description offer some insight. If we’re wondering how to respond to any new concern, we will keep these qualities central to our efforts.
Authenticity can feel like a bit of a buzzword these days, but it does capture something important about what we believe God expects of us, to be who God created us to be, and not, obviously, something else. Being authentic means relying on the gifts God has given us, this unique collection of folks that gather regularly in this place. If we trust that God has already given us everything that we need to take on the challenges before us, we are best served to pay close attention to what we have and who we are.
A second thing that became abundantly clear in the visioning process our team engaged was how much creativity was an embodied ethic of this congregation. On a surface level, it’s not hard to see how these people love incorporating the arts into our shared work. Good music matters, but so do the written and visual arts. Poetry and painting and drama and presentations of all sorts. These sensibilities create a platform from which we also experiment, often outside the box of the traditional and the expected.
Finally, the vision team that coalesced 18 months of discernment, knew that what mattered deeply and what was woven in and through all of this effort was an undeniable concern that justice be our guide. Of course, what is it that makes communities of faith places of significance beyond just being a social club where you come to hang out with your friends and feel good? It that’s we have a purpose that extends far beyond ourselves and it reaches to our neighbors, across the street and across the world.
I think Eugene Peterson’s translation of the prophet Micah is a helpful way to understand the relationships that result for us when we answer this call to be authentic, creative, and just…
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
Micah 6:8, The Message
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.
As we live into this calling, we remember that people of faith hold a particular concern for the oppressed, the forgotten, the sick, the poor, the lonely, and any who have been made to feel anything but loved in this world. If we wonder where our efforts are to be delivered, these are the places we are to go. And as we do this, we won’t take ourselves too seriously.
May God’s peace find you today. -Pastor Peter
Let us pray… God of vision, throughout all of history, you have inspired your people to take bold action for the sake of all creation. By your Spirit, help us to be authentic, creative, and just, so that we might follow on the paths you place before us, trusting in the one who has led the way, Jesus Christ, our savior. Amen.