AR&LW Vision of Worship

is the work of the people of God gathered in assembly,

and is thus communal in outlook

even when used as personal devotion;

finds expression in cultural context,

but is never bound to or limited by cultural claims;

manifests the love, peace, mercy, generosity, and justice of God

by being invitational and welcoming,

inclusive and participatory;

demonstrates the startling truth of the Reign of God,

and thereby offers a vision

that scrutinizes worldly values and human societies;

enunciates the reality of God’s glory and goodness

and therefore avoids whatever is artificial and contrived;

holds up the primary symbols of our faith

so that they can be seen clearly

and can communicate profoundly;

is ordered around the central sacred activities of word, bath, and meal,

in which God’s grace is proclaimed

and our identity is bestowed

and our unity is manifest;

utilizes speech and silence,

music and gesture,

stillness and movement,

time and architecture,

to point to that which is invisible, transcendent, and beyond human definition;

takes seriously both human perplexity and the Christian hope

by transforming the common and the temporal

into lenses of the holy and the eternal;

and prompts us, through the fresh work of the Holy Spirit,

to serve others,

whatever their status or condition,

as Christ has lovingly and compassionately served us.