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Mission Statement of the
Cathars
in North America
(Annual General Meeting March,
1999 revised March, 2006)
The General Conference Cathar
Church, part of the worldwide Assembly of good Christians, is a
nondenominational, noncreedal, house-church movement.
Claiming a diasporal descendant from surviving
remnants of the medieval Inquisition 800 years ago, good
Christians today
seek substantive unity among the People of GOD as commanded by
Jesus Christ.
Our mission in North America and globally is to
reflect and proclaim the transforming love of GOD as revealed in Jesus
Christ, discovered in knowledge, affirmed in the
Scriptures. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve
GOD in the world while remaining apart.
In seeking to carry out our mission
we will work according to these principles:
-
Christian
community
- To
be a worshipping, praying, and growing community,
sharing and developing our faith and working through its implications
in our social context.
- Evangelism
- Our
quiet witness shall challenge people to Divine self- knowledge through
Christ's way as the Messenger of GOD.
- Flexibility
- To
be flexible, creative, and open to GOD's Spirit in a
changing world and Church, so
that the Church is relevant to people's needs. To release
energy
for mission rather than to absorb energy for administration.
- Church unity
- To
foster networks and relationships with communities of faith and others
of evidenced good will having similar goals; even if mutual agreement
is not complete.
- Inclusiveness
- To
operate as a Church in ways that will enable the diversity of
people (e.g. all ages, all cultures, all genders, all
legitimate humans expressing goodwill) to participate fully in
the whole life of the Church, especially decision-making and
worship whenever practical.
- Every member a minister
- To
encourage each person to develop his/her full potential by accepting
and nurturing each other, developing skills and providing
resources, challenging and enabling for service in the Church and
community.
- Cross-cultural awareness
- To
become aware of, and challenged by, each other's cultures
and expression of their humanity, however foreign
it may seem to us.
- Justice
- To
work for justice for any who are
oppressed in North America and around the world as relevant,
keeping in mind the implications, rights and responsibilities of the
civil authority. To share our resources with the poor and
disadvantaged in North America and beyond.
- Peace
-
To be peacemakers between people and in the world.
-
Healing
-
To listen for hurt and work for healing.
- Ecology
To care for the
eco-system. While but a pale, and imperfect imitation
of GOD's
creation, we should seek to redeem and reclaim it for future
generations as
they seek the knowledge of liberation from this world.
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