A Dunedin Methodist statement

 

 

Dunedin Methodist Parish . . . What we create for one another and give to one another is a community. Our community focuses on God as the source of life,  meaning,  and purpose. Our community tries to express God's intention in what it does,  and how it shapes its life.   Our roots . . . We have a high regard for the history out of which we have come. That history has shaped our way of thinking and speaking. It has taught us the  'God'  language. It has bequeathed to us a significant record of human experience. It has pointed us to Jesus of Nazareth,  who shines for us with the light of God.   Diversity . . . We respect the diversity of religious traditions. We feel affinity with everyone who cares about our world and its people. While we value the traditions and traditional ways we have inherited,       we are open to those in our own community who question the old,       for the sake of new understanding and strengthened commitment.   We are learning . . . We do not stand still. Some of the words which are becoming important to us are: Inclusiveness;   Tolerance;   Caring;   Spirituality;   Growth;   Commitment;   Creation;   Peace;   Justice;   Liberation;   Responsibility;   Truth;   Integrity;   Love;   Friendship  . . .   We offer what we have received . . . hope community a learning place ways of serving others the light of Christ

 

 

Explorers Group
     The Mornington Explorers Group which meets on the 4th Sunday of each month at 4.30pm, is becoming more important to our Parish as a think-tank. The Group is seeking relevance in worship and mission. The brief statement we are listing today deserves some prominence because it is the fruit of almost 3 years intense discussion by the Explorers Group.

In mid 2003 Mornington Methodists were asked who would be interested in forming a group for sharing thoughts and feelings about faith and religion. Out of that came an Explorers group, a liberating experience: Listening to one another we have come to appreciate our diversity. We are not required to think exactly alike or to follow just one theological line. To have faith is not to adopt a given set of propositions. Rather it is to be on a journey. None of us would wish to have remained where we were in childhood or where our religious educators left us. Our faith finds expression in the prayer: Spirit of God you move us to care – to love you and your mystery, to love this earth and its life, to love people near and far. Bless you! We have taken note of the Declaration of a Global Ethic endorsed by The Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1993, and go along with its summary imperatives: respect for all life, economic justice and solidarity, tolerance and truthfulness, equal rights and partnership between men and women.   June 2006

 

See also the Mission Statement
of the Methodist Church of New Zealand.

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