About Our Adult Ministry
Our ministry with adults is built upon the foundation that nurturing faith is a lifelong process, more than one moment or one event. While faith formation can be described as a series of connected events, we look at the whole, rather than focus only on one part or experience. The Christian journey is the process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others, a process that helps us see the connectedness of our heart, mind, body, and soul.
Our heart – our relationship to God, self, and others.- Our mind – developing and using our God-given gifts, skills and knowledge
- Our body – using our hands and feet, arms and legs to serve and minister to others in Christ’s name
- Our soul – rearranging our lives and priorities to make time and space for our relationship with God
Likewise, our spiritual lives are shaped through many avenues and experiences. In studying the pages of scripture, in experiencing the traditions of our faith, in exploring the stories of our own lives, and in gleaning the gifts of reflection and reasoning, we build our faith story. Our adult ministries are designed to enrich and enhance this process of faith formation as we seek to offer programming that will make the scripture stories intersect with our personal stories.
Our goal is to help people develop a mature faith that will help us "to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death" (Philippians 3:10).
We also use as our guide the insight St. Paul gives us for the ongoing transformation that is part of our spiritual journey: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2)
We believe that the following expressions of faith, when taken together, give a well-rounded portrait of a person with mature faith. A person with mature faith…
- trusts in God’s grace and believes in the humanity and divinity of Jesus, and in the presence of Jesus now in the person of the Holy Spirit;
- experiences a sense of security and peace;
- integrates faith and life, seeing all life as God’s domain;
- seeks spiritual growth through both personal and communal study, reflection, prayer, worship and discussion with others;
- seeks to be part of a community of believers in which people give witness to their faith and support and nourish one another through worship, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and missions;
- holds life-affirming values, including commitment to racial and gender equality, living in harmony with those of different cultural and religious views, and has a personal sense of responsibility for the welfare of others;
- advocates social and global change to bring about greater social justice, including the reducing of poverty, the improving of human welfare, and protecting the environment.