Forty-One Members

Part of our spiritual practice as a community is to listen to the prophets among us in ways that make the reality of the Realm of God more evident to us, and to the world around us, the world God is calling us to care for.

 

Each year we renew our commitment to Christ and to the Seekers Church in a conscious and intentional way. In Seekers, God’s call and our commitments are linked together. Every choice you make, every call you answer changes all of us! Annual recommitment is a key element in the life of Seekers Church, maintaining a tradition of the Church of the Saviour begun with the initial commitment of founding members in 1947. This year “Recommitment Sunday” was the third Sunday of October, the 16th.

 

This year 41 of us renewed our commitment. Of those, 18 made the commitment as Stewards.

 

The time before Recommitment Sunday is an opportunity for all of us – recent arrivals, attenders, Members, and Stewards – to review our commitment to God and to Seekers Church. This year the Servant Leadership Team invited all Seekers to reflect on the call of Seekers Church and our commitment statements, and consider:

     † What is God’s call on Seekers Church as one small part of the Body of Christ?

     † What am I being called to offer to God and God’s creation?

     † How can being a part of Seekers Church support my response to God’s call?

     † What do I need from and through this community to deepen my commitment to Christ?

 

Part of our traditional preparation includes a silent hour of prayer in the sanctuary before signing the Seekers membership log, the record of all Seekers members since our beginning in 1976.

On Recommitment Sunday all those who attend worship and other Seekers community activities regularly, who identify themselves as Seekers, Used the Member’s Commitment Statement to renew their commitment to Christ as Members of Seekers Church. The Stewards made their commitment to support the missions and ministries of Seekers Church using the Stewrard’s Commitment Statemnent.

 

To mark the occasion, each of us was invited to come forward an take a stone from the rocky path on the altar table, to remind us of our commitment to help open the Way.

 

MEMBER’S COMMITMENT STATEMENT

 

I am a Seeker. I come today to affirm my relationship with this Christian community in the tradition of the Church of the Saviour, linked with the people of God through the ages.

 

As a member of this church, I will deepen my relationships in this local expression of the Body of Christ, sharing my gifts from God with others who worship with Seekers Church, and in the wider world. I will:

     • Nurture my relationship with God and Seekers Church through spiritual disciplines;

     • Care for the whole of creation, including the natural environment;

     • Foster justice and be in solidarity with the poor;

     • Work for the end of all war, both public and private; and

     • Respond joyfully with my life, as the grace of God gives me freedom.

 

STEWARD’S COMMITMENT STATEMENT

 

I come today to make my commitment as a Steward of Seekers Church, a Christian community in the tradition of the Church of the Saviour, linked with the people of God throughout the ages. We worship God as triune being. Along with the Disciples, we believe:

     • That the Creator — father and mother to us all, ground of our being — loves, sustains and calls us;

     • That Jesus is the Christ, who calls us to a ministry of love and justice;

     • That the Holy Spirit, as the empowering presence and breath of God, confronts and inspires us to do God’s work in the world.

 

We believe that we are all ministers of the Church, which is both universal, grace-filled body of Christ and fragile earthen vessel.

 

I commit to:

     • Be a faithful witness to God’s presence among us;

     • Nurture my relationship with God and Seekers Church through specific spiritual practices or disciplines;

     • Care for the whole of creation, including the natural environment;

     • Foster justice and be in solidarity with the poor;

     • Work for the ending of all war, public and private;

     • Share responsibility for the spiritual growth of persons of all ages in the Seekers Church community;

     • Take responsibility for the organizational health of Seekers Church;

     • Respond joyfully with my life, as the grace of God gives me freedom.

When I move from this place, I will join another expression of Christ’s church.