Statement  of  Faith 

Rev. Judith Fulp-Eickstaedt 

I believe in God, who created the universe and turned its chaotic forces into life-sustaining order. This activity was creative and intentional – the work of a hands-on God. God created human life, with all its genetic wonders. God gave us each substance and breath. God fills us with dreams and questions, feelings and personality. God calls each person by name and loves us for our own uniqueness. 

I believe in Jesus Christ, God incarnate, the ultimate expression of God’s love for us. Through his obedience to God, Christ showed what true Christian freedom means. Through his suffering, he made our healing possible. By enduring the violence of humanity he showed the way of peace. By his death he gave new life to the world. Christ’s resurrection assures us that God has the final word over sin and death. 

In his earthly ministry Christ showed the grace of God through teaching, healing, praying, listening, and forgiving. In the simple actions of breaking bread, touching people, and blessing children, Jesus exhibited the hands-on nature of God’s love for us. Christ gathered those who were outcast. Christ shared meals with those the community called unworthy. This ministry was a perfect reflection of God’s love for each person. God knows us, everything about us, and yet God calls us and uses us. 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, God at work in our lives, continually calling us and claiming us as children of god. Through the Holy Spirit we encounter the mystery of God in our everyday living. The Holy Spirit is like the wind, blowing where it will, so sometimes we see God in places we do not expect, or even in places where we would rather not encounter god. The Spirit moves in and among the people of God and binds the church together into one body. This same Spirit was present at creation, moving in and among the elements of fire and water and earth. This same Spirit is present in each human life, moving in and among the flesh and the feelings. 

The sacraments are outward signs of God’s grace offered through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a sign and seal of God’s call on our lives. In communion we are gathered at the table of Christ, where rich and poor, prisoners and free people, the powerful and the voiceless, men, women, and children of every time and place are welcomed and fed the bread of life. At this table our deepest hungers are satisfied. 

The love of God, the example of Christ, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit compel us to respond with love and compassion. We are blessed so that we may be a blessing to others. As Christians we are challenged to see the world in a different light; we are those who dare to believe that God is still working to create order – love, peace, and justice – out of the chaos of injustice, violence, and hatred. We are called to work toward that reality, while realizing that we cannot fix the world or human nature ourselves. We are called to hold onto that vision of hope, to work for peace, to love as we have been loved, and to pray always, “thy kingdom come, O God, they will be done.”