As members of the Christian community of Norway Grove Memorial Lutheran Church in DeForest, Wisconsin, we, being sinners and falling short, agree, with the help of God, to relate to each other through Christ, and thus hold ourselves and each other to:

The 13^th and final point of the Covenant is to create a safe environment for communicating differences.  Jesus Christ crossed many boundaries in his life time. He healed people, blessed people and brought people closer to God’s love. Things did not always go smoothly for Jesus in his life, but Jesus was there to connect with all people in need and to free people from captivity, to ministry to the poor, and I believe that Jesus is also there when we live in community with each other.Every person is not that same. We have a variety of opinions, needs, and differences. Being able to express our wants and desires without forcing our opinion on others is important for living in Christian community with one another. Looking not only at just our own needs, but at what is going to be best for the entire body of Christ is what it’s all about. It is good to have investment in the congregation, but we do not have sole ownership. All is done towards God’s glory, not our own. Openly discussing opinions and options with humility and respect of others brings us closer to living in a safe environment where we can freely communicate differences.

Thanks be to God!

Posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 3:20 pm, filed under Church Council. RSS 2.0 Subscribe. Reply, or trackback.