34/50: Step Into the River
I love moving water. This song is one of my favorites — taking the river metaphor into new places.
“We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations.”
Karl Barth said Reformed faith (of which Presbyterians are a part) is like a river — it is always moving, but you can never step in at the same place. I love this. Orthodoxy is not a stake in the ground but a flowing stream in the way of Jesus.
Several years ago, Brian McLaren termed the phrase, “A Generous Orthodoxy,” and from him, I learned there is a wide range of what can be called orthodox Christianity. This is a 2000+ year old tradition that has been incarnated into many cultures and ages. It would be impossible to find one singular view on salvation or eternity or the Bible. John Wesley wisely suggested that we look at Scripture, tradition, reason and experience to form our theology. That takes us beyond whether a theological idea is validated only on a “biblical” basis and it leaves room for conversation.
In the Presbyterian Church, we do this through the Book of Confessions. From the fourth century Nicene Creed to the 1986 South African Belhar Confession, the Book of Confessions is a series of theological declarations. I take the confessions seriously because examined and intentional faith is important. But I also feel free to disagree with them because belief changes with new information and experience.
We are at a place in church history where new confessions must be written. They may not end up as official church documents, but many are struggling to find language for the faith they possess but don’t yet have words for. We need ways to talk about our faith that leave room for play and mystery, but are concrete and simple enough to grasp and work with in our everyday lives.
The field of possibilities is wide but I was honored to be a part of writing this statement at First Presbyterian Church of Bend that they graciously let us adapt at Valley Presbyterian.
At Valley Presbyterian, you will meet people at many different places theologically and spiritually. And we love it that way. We want to be a place where our diversity brings us together and where conversation takes us all deeper in our understanding of God. We don’t ask anyone to sign creeds or statements of belief. Our life of faith is a way of being in the world, a faith that shows itself in love.
Our faith is a way of wisdom and practice in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth. This path is a commitment to the complexity of community, to the paradox of both/and, to transformation of soul, mind and body, and to the flourishing of a just and whole earth. The Jewish and Christian Scriptures are our sacred guide along centuries-old paths that lead us into the universal love of God. Our faith invites us to tell our stories and welcomes questions. We delight in a Mystery that draws us into a future that offers us more than we can ask or imagine as we live a wholehearted and spacious faith.