What: Phoenix Affirmations Discussion Series led by The Rev. Gary Brinn
When: Last Sunday of each month in 2023 (after Coffee Hour or approximately 11:15 am)
Where: Beecher Hall, The Park Church
Join us for a monthly series of 12 sessions on being a progressive congregation, one per month from January through December 2023. The Rev. Gary Brinn will lead us in discussion about how we can live into the Phoenix Affirmations, or the twelve points of being a progressive congregation. Sessions will be held on the last Sunday of each month in Beecher Hall after coffee hour.
Affirmation #7
Preserving religious freedom and the Church’s ability to speak prophetically to government by resisting the commingling of Church and State;
As Christians, we strive to live as responsible citizens of our country, just as we seek to live as Christ’s disciples. We celebrate the separation of Church and State as much for the protection of the Church, and other faith communities, as the State.
We affirm that the Path of Jesus is found where Christ’s followers honor the role of the State in maintaining justice and peace, so far as human discernment and ability make possible. We affirm the separation of Church and State, even as we endeavor to support the state in as far as Christian conscience allows.
We confess that we have moved away from this Path when we have confused the role of the State with that of the Church. We have moved further from the Path when we have renounced the Church’s calling to speak prophetically to the State by suggesting that the Church should or could take on the nature, tasks and dignity which belong to the State, thus becoming itself an organ of the State.
Comments