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We are Christians trying to live faithfully in a post-modern world, a world where terrorism ricochets between continents, and Eastern religions and other new belief systems co-exist with Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions.
To quote Louis B. Weeks from his book entitled To Be A Presbyterian:
"Catholic, Baptist, Christian (Disciples of Christ), Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches cooperate.
All of us Protestants should know about that diversity: yet we all share the catholic heritage. That word "catholic" at one level simply means "universal". All Christians call Jesus the Christ.
And Louis Weeks states later in the chapter " To Be a Christian":
"We Presbyterians, who belong to the Western, Protestant branch of the Christian Church, are almost all evangelicals. We believe that the essence of the faith is that Jesus Christ lived, died and rose for us.
As a Christian in the Reformed tradition from birth, I like Paul's theological statement that reads:
"God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to tell men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them."
We're speaking for Christ himself now. Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you." (The Message , " The Bible in Contemporary Language, trans. By Eugene H. Peterson
Presbyterians are known for their forthrightness, their forbearance and delight in ecumenical, theological discussions and debates. We respect the views of other Christians and yet, affirm the right to voice our opinions, striving for clarity, collaboration and the common good. We are open to dialogue with those who want to know God and to serve God and God's Creation: the world and all creatures that dwell in it.
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