STATEMENT OF FAITH - Prayerfully adopted this 27th day of November 2001 by the Session of First Presbyterian Church Richmond, Indiana
We the Session of First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Indiana, living in a day of controversy over the meaning, use, and interpretation of Scripture, as well as certain of the basic tenets of the Reformed Christian faith, are moved to respond. Sensing the Holy Spirit's leading, we do hereby confess, reaffirm, and uphold the Holy Scriptures and our Confessions by adopting this our expression of faith. Our beliefs call us to action, as reflected in the affirmations that follow this statement. Grace and peace to all.
First Presbyterian Church, Richmond STATEMENT OF FAITH
We believe that God, the creator of all, was, is, and always shall be. There was never a time when God was not. We address the one God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, understanding them as Persons, not as functions. God is sovereign and almighty. God is loving, merciful and just. God is revealed in the Bible as Fortress, Warrior, Shield, Rock, and many other finite images that attempt to contain the infinite. As Creator, God is distinct and different from creation, yet neither distant nor removed from that which God has called into being.
God created humanity to bear God's image throughout the created order, caring for it wisely, and to be in covenant relationship with God. All human need was provided for within the context of the created order and the divine/human relationship. We severed the divine/human relationship by disregarding the authority of God and setting in its place our own discernment, experience, and desires. Yet God's precepts remained in tact. As God's perfect justice held Adam and Eve accountable for their sin, likewise God holds all humanity accountable for their sin today. And like them, we were and are unable to restore the relationship with God by any effort of our own; it is restored only by God's gracious gift of salvation, made possible through the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
As the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ is the extraordinary, divine expression of self-giving. Jesus reveals to us the totality of divine love. In Jesus, God suffers for and with us, forgives us, and beckons us into abundant life. Jesus, as God in human flesh, is both God with us and God for us. Jesus, the only complete embodiment of responsible human living, demonstrated how to relate to God, to ourselves and to the rest of creation. He fulfilled to overflowing the Law and the Prophets into the foundational gospel of compassion, servanthood and liberation. Jesus was and is a challenge to orthodox ways of secular living and religious practice. Jesus' earthly ministry so threatened established authority that he was condemned to death on a cross. There he willingly bore the sin of humankind. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a sign for all time that even the powers of death and the rejections of human beings cannot thwart the plans of God for creation.
God is present with us today in the Third Person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. It is by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we are held close to the heart of God; that same Spirit moves our own human hearts to care for others who are hurting, afflicted and oppressed. It is by the Holy Spirit that God remains active in human life and history. Through the Spirit's call, we are inspired to righteousness and prompted to pursue peace and justice for all God's creation. The Spirit provides the gifts needed to accomplish the purposes that will glorify God.
Scripture is the unique Spirit breathed, authoritative and essential written witness to all truth necessary for salvation. As we read the Bible and hear the Word proclaimed, God continues to speak to us today. Through a chorus of voices, inspired over a span of centuries, the Bible tells the Good News of God and God's desire that none should perish. It also sounds the alarm for a day of judgment, but that God's Justice will prevail perfectly.

	The nature of God is also revealed in the celebration of the sacraments. Baptism symbolizes God's initiative in extending unmerited grace to include us in God's family. We affirm the essential truth that God's love is freely given to undeserving people every time we baptize a baby. When we baptize an adult, we experience that God yearns to receive us, no matter our age or situation. In the Lord's Supper, we experience God's constant nourishing of a people hungry for that which only God can give. In this sacrament, we are gifted with communion with Christ and with the church universal, in one timeless moment. We recall the self-offering of Christ for us, and are inspired and strengthened to offer ourselves in love and service to God and God's world. Through both Word and Sacrament, the church points to the Living God, looking back in memory and looking forward in hope.
	In the present, the transforming power of the Cross is available to all creation and sufficient for any sin. Some reject that power, and God honors their freedom to do so. Yet there is no other means by which people may achieve eternal relationship except in Jesus Christ. Until the last day, His arms stay outstretched to a needy world.
God's people anticipate a world to come in which the work done at the Cross will permeate every aspect of creation, setting all right and making all things new and complete. This is when we will both know fully and be fully known without shame and in perfect peace.
	From its inception, the church has been called to be a community of people who seek to live together in faithful witness as Christ's body. Whether this witness is affirmed or rejected by the surrounding culture, this is still the church's calling today. God has given us all the resources needed to fulfill this created purpose: the Bible, worship, prayer, the sacraments, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and God's own self in the gift of salvation. With these, we may be joyfully conformed to the will of God, united to glorify God, inviting all to the hope found only in Jesus Christ.
	Because we believe the above,
	Session of First Presbyterian Church, Richmond affirms that:
	Jesus Christ alone is Lord and Savior of all creation.
	The Holy Bible is the unique authority for the Church and all individual members.
	The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments hold in inexplicable tension God's infinite mercy and perfect justice. We admit that how God will achieve both is beyond our human comprehension.
	God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit call everyone to holiness of life and we accept this challenge humbly.
	God in Jesus Christ approached fallen humanity fearlessly, vulnerably, and winsomely. Christians are called to do the same.
	Human sexuality is God's good gift, to be expressed as fidelity in marriage between one man and one woman or chastity in singleness.
	The peace, unity, and purity of the Church are to be pursued in equal measure by all.

Prayerfully adopted this 27th day of November 2001 by the Session of First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Indiana
Elaine Goodwin, Clerk
Jack Beilfuss, Elder
Karla Carrico, Elder
Murlin Clark, Elder
Larry Coblentz, Elder
Nancy Fields, Elder
Elaine Goodwin, Elder
Barbara Kenley, Pastor
David Layman, Pastor
Phyllis Marlatt, Elder
Susan Miller, Elder
Eric Monger, Elder
Terri Smith, Elder
Wayne Van Sickle, Elder
Gene Webb, Elder
Bill Stackhouse, Elder
Glen Thornburg, Elder
Diane Whitehead,Elder
.^^^^.

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