Pastor's Statement of Faith

Rev. Mari Lyn Jones’ Statement of Faith

Rather than being a member of a particular church/congregation, a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a member of the presbytery.  When a Minister of Word and Sacrament moves to another geographic location and consequently seeks to move their membership from one presbytery to another, we are interviewed by representatives from the local presbytery’s Committee on Ministry (COM).  We present a Statement of Faith and answer questions about our understanding of God.  This same Statement of Faith is included in the presbytery packet for the next presbytery meeting so that Commissioners to that presbytery meeting can also ask questions of the Minister of Word and Sacrament before voting to sustain the affirmative decision of the COM in welcoming that Minister of Word and Sacrament to the presbytery.

     Here is my Statement of Faith—presented to the presbytery at the December 2019 meeting, in which I was welcomed into membership in Grace Presbytery.

      I believe in the eternal, all-loving, all-powerful God who created and continues to create the universe and everything in it. This God paints with the palette of love, shapes with the clay of grace, composes with the music of relationship, and invigorates with the breath of curiosity.

      I believe this God became incarnate in Jesus the Christ—to more completely reveal God’s nature to us. Jesus’ life expresses the relationships for which we are created. His ministry shows us the abundant life God intends for all people. His death and resurrection reveal the depth and breadth of God’s love and power.

      Because of the incarnation, we see that human flesh and blood, muscle and bone, mind and emotions matter to God. So the Holy Spirit compels us to respond to suffering and oppression with acts of love and justice. The Holy Spirit accompanies and sustains us in this work—filling our hearts with faith and our lives with hope. The Holy Spirit strengthens and empowers us to continue Christ’s ministry—individually as well as corporately.

      Because of the incarnation, God’s presence is made known to us through our physical senses as well as through extra-sensory experiences. The cleansing, renewing, life-giving waters of Baptism remind us that we are birthed into God’s family, and we live our identity as God’s children. As the aroma of fresh-baked bread wafts around the Communion table, we breathe it in, and this Holy Spirit breath draws us into Christ’s presence. As we eat the bread and drink from the cup, we “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)

      I believe that we meet this creating, saving, renewing God in the stories and poems, the parables and letters, the histories and visions recorded in Scripture. I believe that we come to know this loving, forgiving, transforming God through Word and Sacrament. I believe we experience the abundant life God plans for us through relationships—relating with God’s world, relating with God’s people, and relating with God.