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The Brief Statement of Faith
In 1983, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was formed by the reunion of the
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and
the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Integral to reunion was the
preparation of a brief statement of faith. While recognizing realities of
diversity and disagreement in both the church and the world, members of the
drafting committee sought to articulate Presbyterians’ common
identity.
Early in its discussions, the committee decided to write a statement of faith
that could be used in worship. The committee drew extensively on
the documents in the Book of Confessions and on Scripture for its formulations,
and arranged them within a trinitarian framework.
The Brief Statement of Faith (statement) is distinctive in several respects.
Unlike the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, which move directly
from Jesus’ birth to his death, the statement emphasizes the significance of
Jesus’ ministry in Judea and Galilee. The Brief Statement of Faith emphasizes
gender-inclusiveness. It underscores the role of both men and women in God’s
covenant, uses feminine as well as masculine imagery of God, and affirms
ordination of both women and men. The statement also expresses concern for the
integrity of God’s creation.
Affirming at its beginning that “In life and death we belong to God” (10.1, line
1) and, at its end, that “nothing in life or in death can separate
us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord,” (10.05, lines 78, 79) The
Brief Statement concludes liturgically with the church’s familiar
doxology of praise and thanksgiving.
Preface
In 1983 the two largest Presbyterian churches in the United States reunited.
The Plan for Reunion called for the preparation of a brief statement of the
Reformed faith for possible inclusion in the Book of Confessions. This statement
is therefore not intended to stand alone, apart from the other confessions of
our church. It does not pretend to be a complete list of all our beliefs, nor
does it explain any of them in detail. It is designed to be confessed by the
whole congregation in the setting of public worship, and it may also serve
pastors and teachers as an aid to Christian instruction. It celebrates our
rediscovery that for all our undoubted diversity, we are bound together by a
common faith and a common task.
The faith we confess unites us with the one, universal church. The most
important beliefs of Presbyterians are those we share with other Christians, and
especially with other evangelical Christians who look to the Protestant
Reformation as a renewal of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Diversity remains. But
we are thankful that in our time the many churches are learning to accept, and
even to affirm, diversity without divisiveness, since the whole counsel of God
is more than the wisdom of any individual or any one tradition. The Spirit of
Truth gives new light to the churches when they are willing to become pupils
together of the Word of God. This statement therefore intends to confess the
catholic faith.
We are convinced that to the Reformed churches a distinctive vision of the
catholic faith has been entrusted for the good of the whole church. Accordingly,
"A Brief Statement of Faith" includes the major themes of the Reformed
tradition (such as those mentioned in the Book of Order, Form of Government,
Chapter 2),2 without claiming them as our private possession, just as we
ourselves hope to learn and to share the wisdom and insight given to traditions
other than our own. And as a confession that seeks to be both catholic and
Reformed, the statement (following the apostle's blessing in 2 Cor. 13:14) is a
trinitarian confession in which the grace of Jesus Christ has first place as the
foundation of our knowledge of God's sovereign love and our life together in the
Holy Spirit.
No confession of faith looks merely to the past; every confession seeks to
cast the light of a priceless heritage on the needs of the present moment, and
so to shape the future. Reformed confessions, in particular, when necessary even
reform the tradition itself in the light of the Word of God. From the first, the
Reformed churches have insisted that the renewal of the church must become
visible in the transformation of human lives and societies. Hence "A Brief
Statement of Faith" lifts up concerns that call most urgently for the
church's attention in our time. The church is not a refuge from the world; an
elect people is chosen for the blessing of the nations. A sound confession,
therefore, proves itself as it nurtures commitment to the church's mission, and
as the confessing church itself becomes the body by which Christ continues the
blessing of his earthly ministry.
(This preface does not have confessional authority, but is
included as an aid to interpret the Brief Statement of Faith.)
The Statement
In life and death we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God,
And the communion of the Holy
Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship and serve.
We trust in Jesus Christ,
Fully human, fully God.
Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
preaching good news to the poor
and release to the captives,
teaching by word and deed
and blessing the children,
healing the sick
and binding up the
brokenhearted,
eating with outcasts,
forgiving sinners,
and calling all to repent and believe the
gospel.
Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,
Jesus was crucified,
suffering the depths of human pain
and giving his life for the sins of the
world.
God raised Jesus from the dead,
vindicating his sinless life,
breaking the power of sin and evil,
delivering us from death to life eternal.
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image
male and female, of every race
and people,
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God's commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and
ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
exploit neighbor and nature,
and threaten death to the planet entrusted
to our care.
We deserve God's condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
In everlasting love,
the God of Abraham and Sarah
chose a covenant people
to bless all
families of the earth.
Hearing their cry,
God delivered the children of Israel
from the house
of bondage.
Loving us still,
God makes us heirs with Christ
of the covenant.
Like a mother who will not forsake her
nursing child,
like a father who runs to welcome the
prodigal home,
God is faithful still.
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
sets us free to accept ourselves and to love
God and neighbor,
and binds us together with all believers
in the one body of Christ, the church.
The same Spirit
who inspired the prophets and apostles
rules our faith and life in Christ through
Scripture,
engages us through the Word proclaimed,
claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup
of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of
the church.
In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as
Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice,
freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks
and to live holy and joyful
lives,
even as we watch for God's new heaven and
new earth,
praying, Come, Lord Jesus!
With believers in every time and place,
we rejoice that nothing in life or in death
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
*Instead of saying this line, congregations may wish to sing a version of the
Gloria.
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