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Mission Statement
First
Presbyterian Church, Cottage Grove, Oregon
"Living
God's Love in Community"
Cottage Grove First
Presbyterian Church is
an inclusive,
multigenerational, welcoming faith community. As a People of
God, we celebrate our Presbyterian denominational connections,
we are committed to the Commonwealth of God Jesus proclaimed
in the Gospel, and we value the distinctiveness of other faith
traditions. The Bible is authoritative in our faith. We believe
the mandate of the Scriptures goes beyond concern for the personal
soul and extends to concern for the welfare of all humanity.
Worship and mission are equally important in our vision of
the church. Our common worship binds us together as a
people of God. Our faith is lived out in our relationships with
each other, in the local and global community,
and in the natural world.
Values
Cottage
Grove First Presbyterian Church
is an inclusive, multigenerational
People of God.
We welcome into our community people
of all abilities,
occupations, incomes, cultures, colors, races, sexual
orientations, backgrounds, and theologies. We come together
for worship, education, work, and recreation in a historical
building, dedicated to serving the community. Worship and mission
are equally important in our vision of the church.
We are mindful
of our Presbyterian and Reformed
heritage and denominational connections.
We see ourselves connected in a broader sense to diverse
faith communities striving to live out the teachings and ministry
of Jesus of Nazareth. We also value the distinctiveness of the
spiritual search of other cultures and faith.
Beliefs
The Bible is authoritative
in our faith.
The Bible reveals to us a glimpse of the Creator of all life,
the
One who redeems us in our brokenness and sustains us in our
search for authentic human life. Our view of the authority of
scripture informs our ministry. We read scripture to discover
the revelation of Divine Will for our everyday lives, personal
and
communal. We apply the tools of modern scholarship to
our Biblical studies. Our
theology is informed by historical interpretations and is open
to
new insights for living in the modern world. The prophets of
the
Old Testament and the rabbis of the
New Testament proclaim and
are agents of transformation.
The mandates of
the Scriptures go beyond concerns
for the personal soul and extend to concerns for
the Commonwealth of Humanity.
This implies engagement with the status quo. The Scriptures
promised the emergence of a transformative community, for
whom right relationships among people, with the earth,
living together in peace and economic justice,
will be the highest priority.
This kind of social responsibility we believe
characterizes the Dominion of God.
Actions
We experience in
our common worship, binding
together as a people of God.
Our worship nurtures and sustains us as we put our
faith into action. Living in community strengthens
us as we actively engage in controversies of theology and
conscience. Our commitment to God is to remain in the
struggle with each other even
when the temptation is to withdraw.
Our Faith is demonstrated
and lived out in our
relationships with each other,
to local and global community, and
the natural world.
We engage actively and proactively with issues of social,
political, and economic justice, striving always to increase
the balance of right relations in all
domains of human life.
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