“From slavery to mass incarceration, factions of the church in America have paid silent witness here to the injurious principles and powers which paralleled the insidious behaviors in South Africa. … let us acknowledge the sin of our past and present, invoking the power of the Holy Spirit to mature us to unity and the full stature of Jesus Christ.”
John C. Welch
Lenten Reflections on the Confession of Belhar
God grant us strength
to confront principalities and powers;
to disrupt sinful structures and systems;
and to live into the unity you desire.
Amen.
This Lenten season I am using a new resource to explore the Belhar Confession: Lenten Reflections on the Confession of Belhar, edited by Kerri N. Allen and Donald K. McKim. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in which I serve as a teaching elder (pastor), added the Confession of Belhar to our Book of Confessions in 2016. This confession came from the Dutch Reformed Mission Church during its historic struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
See you along the Trail.
“As a new creation, the church must remember the very incomprehensible love of God that reminds it of its comprehensive mission in the world.
“God hopes we don’t approach the gift of our unity out of begrudging obligation, but that by God’s grace, we will embody our unity from a spiritual posture of joy and awe, amazed at how wonderfully God has made us one.”
“We deliberately and intentionally practice giving ourselves to one another because we realize we belong to each other. We need each other. We are inextricably tied together. We pursue this unity like a brutal physical regimen. It is not something we come by perfectly, all at once. It is terribly messy, awkward, and fully human. In many ways, it brings out our deepest insecurities and vulnerabilities if we are doing it faithfully and hopefully.”
