SA Foundation
|
|
|
|
Table of contents
SA Servant Leadership |
In the name Servants Anonymous is embedded the servant leadership model. Servants Anonymous (SA) takes its name from the two key components of the organization. The first word ‘Servants’ draws its meaning from the Scriptural concept of “servants of the Lord”. Those serving within charitable SA organizations and the SA Foundation are God’s servants that commit themselves to do His work where He calls. The second word, ‘Anonymous, draws its name from the The Principle of Anonymity (click to see), that governs SA as a whole (a principle adopted from Alcoholics Anonymous).
The SA Foundation’s servant leadership model is reflected at 3 levels: Individual level, Governance level, and Organizational level.
The SA Foundation’s servant leadership model facilitates the development of a culture based on servanthood, personal recovery and community in each charitable SA organization.
In charitable SA organizations (and the SA Foundation), servanthood is a state of heart, a Christian character that reflects the Beatitudes. Personal recovery means the change that God makes in each believer’s life as they grow in faith. Community is formed when a group of people pull together to enact the organization’s vision and mission and are unified around the worship of God based on true repentance in accordance to 2 Chronicles 7:14 that says: “If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (NIV)
The servant leadership model supports the Foundation’s objects as each related charitable activity equips those involved with a greater understanding of the recovery processes and difficulties encountered by sexually exploited/trafficked children, youth and women when they attempt to change their way of life.
It also supports those involved to become efficient, knowledgeable, effective, more compassionate and healthier caregivers as they provide program participants with stable and secure environments in which programs and services (specifically tailored to their unique recovery needs) are delivered to facilitate their inclusion into mainstream society.
Within the SA Foundation, staff and volunteers are invited to participate in a weekly Formation of Servants group, where the leadership of the organization sets the tone for addressing personal recovery issues while seeking to understand the recovery process that program participants undergo.
The SA Formation of Servants program is the tool that the SA Foundation is using to facilitate the development of servanthood, personal recovery and community within the SA Foundation and its SA organizations.
In 1985, soon after being called by God to become a Christian, the SA Founder felt burdened to start up and facilitate a group dedicated to prayer and Bible study, specifically focused, to garner a Biblical perspective on social justice issues. As she continued to seek God’s guidance, this same individual was called by God to address the issues of sexual exploitation in her community. This calling was shared and taken up by many members of the group. However, as they proceeded in this vein, it soon became clear to these seekers that even though their intentions were honorable, their own brokenness contributed much to the unhealthiness of their community.
In the midst of processing through this new realization, the founder received an invitation to participate in a Twelve Step Survivors of Abuse group. It is through this participation, that she came to realize that in order not to be overwhelmed by one’s own wounding or the incredible needs of those that they would serve, there needed to be a structured, Scripture-based, step-by-step support for those seekers desirous of a life of freedom. It is out of this knowledge that the SA Scriptural Twelve Step program was born. This replaced the initial prayer and Bible study in early 1986.
As the group journeyed through the SA Scriptural Twelve Step program, the founder began to understand the need for expositions on Scripture that provided a Biblical base for life applications. As God gave them, she proceeded to write explanations of these specific Scriptures that she recognized were keys to understanding and working through the process of transformation. Over the next few years, at the urging of the founder, a friend and fellow group member wrote a number of complementary commentaries on these same passages of Scripture. Today, the fruit of this labour can be recognized in the SA Formation of Servants materials which integrates them with the SA Scriptural twelve-step program.
The Formation of Servants acts as a guideline for an SA group. This guideline helps to build and foster community, motivating each group member to look to Scripture as their foundation for recovery and from this share their insights on how God has and is healing them. The SA Formation of Servants program has at its base an understanding that only a moment by moment surrender to God’s will enables a person to truly become whole and free. This stance of surrender is not new; rather it has been modeled consistently through the ages, with unequivocal fervor, by men and women who have been used by Christ for the cause of his kingdom. They are those to whom all can turn for examples of discipleship and commitment.
The SA Formation of Servants program combines specific Scriptures, the SA Scriptural 12 Steps, prayer and meditation to encourage repentance and growth within a community of recovery. It prepares seekers (who desire to deepen in their discipleship commitments) to thirst more deeply for righteousness and gives them a glimpse of God’s character so that they can continue to discover Jesus as the meaning of life and their only true friend. The Formation of Servants is designed to enable seekers to enter the lifelong journey to Christian maturity and become more effective servants of their Lord wherever they are called.
In its entirety, the Formation of Servants was created in response to God’s call to recognize more deeply that it is complete dependence on Him alone that can initiate and sustain lasting growth in the Christian life. It is only this utter dependence that can bring to life the persistence needed to fearlessly address all selfish desires that break relationships be it with God or people. Without refute, these selfish desires, fuelled by addictions, compulsions, learned behaviors, values and any preconceived ideas that may have previously been accepted at face value, are in contradiction with God’s will for His children. It is hoped that through their participation in the Formation of Servants, those who serve will come to realize that they are not so different from those they are sent to serve. This realization will change the face of their service and infuse justice into their surroundings because it is no longer those who have who give to those who have not but God who gives to both equally all needing Him desperately.
The SA Formation of Servants is a unique discipleship program that integrates the study of Scriptures with the practice of the Scriptural 12-Steps of recovery*. The SA Formation of Servants takes place within small group interaction and the fellowship of a caring community where disciples become comfortable in being transparent before God and each other. In the process of this group interaction, they will grow spiritually and emotionally.
The intended outcome of the program is:
These are just a few questions you might want to consider when deciding whether or not the Formation of Servants is a program that could help you in your growth process.
The SA Formation Servants is a forty week journey that encourages course participants to be willing to have God heal their past, to submit their present to His loving authority, and to entrust their future to His mercy and grace. It also guides course participants to turn to God as their source for love, security and acceptance.
In the SA Formation of Servants course participants gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of servanthood, personal recovery and community and begin the course by asking themselves what it means to call Jesus their Lord and Saviour. The SA Formation of Servants invites course participants to hear the Holy Spirit in their present life circumstances and to become comfortable in being transparent with God, themselves and others in the following process:
*Adapted from A.A.
There are several ways to work through the Formation of Servants. Each method takes into consideration the best process of learning for the individual taking it. The question to ask yourself is What is the best learning experience you have had? What made it such a good experience for you? From this what would you say would be the ideal learning environment for you?
FOS living groups. Small groups of 8-10 individuals committed to growing together in transparency, honesty, vulnerability and community with each other. This process is guided by a group facilitator who has become a practitioner of the FOS. The groups meet weekly for 2 hours to share what has been studied and worked through in the previous week. There is a format and a leader’s guide for the development and leadership of these FOS groups. The cost of the course in this format is $100 and includes all materials. Dates, times and locations will be published in newsletters, and in online calendars of events. FOS individual study. Individuals purchase the study manuals from our online store; these include FOS volumes 1-2 and the Serenity Bible. Each week’s study will be submitted to the Director of Mentorship at the Centre for Servant Leadership Development for response and feedback before moving onto the next lesson or step. The cost of the course in this format is $200 and includes all materials. All money raised resulting from the purchase of the SA Formation of Servants material is reinvested into the SA Foundation to support our mandate of fighting sexual exploitation and trafficking of youth, women and their children.
Those interested are welcome to purchase individual copies of the SA Formation of Servants program. To enroll in the SA Formation of Servants please email steve@safoundation.com.
The SA Formation of Servants groups are designed to be led by Christian leaders who have made a personal commitment to become an active disciple of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, to start up an SA Formation of Servants group such leaders will need to:
SA’s program curriculum is called the SA Formation of Servants because it has been designed to guide Christian people through a personal recovery process. The SA Formation of Servants is meant to become an instrument of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who are willing to address the selfish desires or idols that plague their lives, and who “Recognize that God desires to transform every life into Jesus’ likeness.” (1 Cor. 3:18)
The FOS integrates key Biblical texts into the Twelve Step materials. The participant in an FOS Group works through the texts and the steps to facilitate their own personal growth and recovery. The purpose is always to facilitate their development as Servants of God who bring a message of hope and recovery to all who they serve.
As a disciple of the Lord Jesus, the personal journey is based on prayer, which directs the hearts of God’s children to be ready to receive a new look on life – fashioned after Jesus’ own. But to be like Jesus, they must come to realize, has nothing to do with outside changes, but rather with a complete change of learned behaviours, values and any pre-conceived ideas which they may have accepted as part of their makeup and that are so deeply rooted in their hearts.
The FOS program is a tool used by the Holy Spirit to transform the lives of Christian people who are ready and willing to hear what He desires to reveal to them, through God’s word. They have discovered their inability to overcome temptations, trials and tribulations through their own strength, in their own way, while leaning on their own understanding. They have been so weakened by the battles that they have been left with no alternative but to cry out to God to renew their strength. As they journey together as a group, these Christian people become recovery partners to each other.
The FOS program utilizes specific Scriptures that can quench an individual’s thirst for righteousness and which they can pray and meditate on to enable the Holy Spirit to teach them, in a deeper way, about the Lord’s will. These passages will give them a glimpse of God’s character and help them come to know Jesus as their only true friend and the meaning of life.
These Scriptures have been integrated into the weekly Step work in the FOS manuals. There are also written as in-depth Bible studies on several of the key passages that are included in the manuals. These integrated reflections and Bible studies remind Christian people what the journey is all about as they work through the Twelve Steps and study the Biblical passages. Below is an outline of the journey toward recovery and wholeness.
Experience transformation |
Matthew 25:1-13
FOS work begins with study and self reflection on Matthew 25 and the parable of the ten virgins. It introduces the disciple to the process of Scriptural Twelve Step work and prepares them to be ready to work through personal recovery and sanctification. The study is about becoming a ‘doer’ of the Word as this Scripture invites disciples to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say about the meaning of being a true believer of Christ.
Step 1: We admitted we are powerless over some of the effects of God’s sovereignty in our lives, and because of our lack of trust in Him our lives are unmanageable.
Step 1 is about bottoming out. Stirred by the Holy Spirit, disciples have made the decision to stop their denial. In the study of the Armour of God they prepare to begin the process of understanding their own recovery. The study takes them through the process of putting on the armour. They must wear all the components of the armour as they travel in uncharted territories of their own souls and lives. It is about safety as this Scripture invites them to understand spiritual warfare as they work on their own selfish desires and motives and prepare to serve their Lord in any ministry or environment. The integration of this passage with Step 1 facilitates personal probing and discovery of their powerlessness and insanity.
Step 2: We came to believe that our loving God, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, could restore us to sanity.
Step 2 is about reaching out to God. Motivated by the Holy Spirit, disciples desire to be restored to sanity because they discovered that practicing the same behaviours but expecting different results is insanity in itself. Linking the study of Psalm 23 to this step ties the sanity that only the Good Shepherd can bring to the process of recovery. To sense insanity and have no external measure of sanity leaves the disciple vulnerable to their own whims. This Scripture provides the support needed as they journey through their personal struggles with belief. Faith is the key word in this step as faith is a trust in God to do as He wills in their lives. As disciples struggle to see God in the midst of their own powerlessness and insanity, the Psalm provides a view of the process of God’s work in their lives as the Good Shepherd who never leaves or forsakes his people. The Spirit is at work shaping, molding and facilitating their conformity to the person of Jesus Christ.
Step 3: We made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of our loving God.
Step 3 is about making the decision to once again turn over one?s life to God. Persuaded by the Holy Spirit, disciples have become convinced that God’s way is better than their own. The decision to turning one’s life over to God is about surrender. It is about giving up control of one’s life and its outcomes to God. Joined with this process of surrender is the study on the Fruit of the Spirit. In this Scripture disciples are introduced to the concept that the Spirit is at work in their lives developing the character of Jesus (the fruit of the Spirit).This fruit is not about the disciple working harder to be like Jesus, but about spending time with Jesus in order to more reflect his character and his fruit. The Spirit develops this fruit as the process of sanctification is at work in their lives. This Scripture can act as a thermometer with which they can see how the Spirit is at work daily in their actions while following the Lord where He chooses to send them.
Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Step 4 is about fearlessly assessing one’s life. Challenged by the Holy Spirit, disciples seriously address how they sought, so far, to sinfully gratify their God given needs for love, security and acceptance. This step is about gauging the receptivity of one’s own heart to the work of the Spirit of God. It involves taking a hard look at the motivations behind their actions and responses. It involves rigorous honesty, with the conviction of the Spirit, about what drives the actions of the heart. Linked with this step is the study of the Parable of the Sower. The parable speaks of the receptivity of the human heart and the things that block that receptivity. It calls the disciple to humbly seek the Spirit’s help in discerning the type of soil that makes up their hearts.
Step 5: We admitted to our loving God, ourselves and to another person the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 5 involves confessing one’s wrongs. Embraced by the Holy Spirit, disciples receive the courage to make the decision to change their damaging ways by asking God’s forgiveness. This process of confession begins by sharing their Step 4 work with another carefully chosen human being. The study of the Prodigal facilitates the work of confession and repentance that is operative in Step 5. It involves the younger brother coming to his senses and looking hard at his own life. After realizing the depth his selfish desires had led him to; he decides to return to his father and confess his sins and seek restoration even as a servant in the house of his father. While some of us know intimately the downward spiral of the younger brother, some of us justify our self-righteousness. Such state of heart unfortunately (as demonstrated by the older brother in the parable) not only hurts our relationship with God, but also with each other. The older brother represents the religious people of Jesus’ time, but also those of us who have not yet realized how hurtful our self-righteousness is. We too might be bitter and unable to forgive. We too might think that we have sacrificed and done much for good. We too might look down on others whom we consider to be greater sinners than ourselves. With such attitudes, we are as lost to the Father’s love as the young son was.
Step 6: We are entirely ready to have our loving God remove all these defects of character.
Step 6 involves getting ready for change. Pressed by the Holy Spirit, disciples get ready to humble themselves by recognizing that their worth comes from God alone, from being a child of the heavenly Father. From that position of self understanding and acceptance they are able to more fully understand what is at the heart of the life responses and selfish desires that they have come to know and live. The study in James 4 and Matthew 5:3-4 helps prepare them to work through heart issues. They point out the necessity of humbling oneself before God and the response that God has in giving grace and strength to work through the process. The hope in these passages is that God is no longer the enemy or disciplinarian who will wait in judgment for their failures. He is rather the one who provides the grace and the power to truly change and live as he has made people to live.
Step 7: We humbly asked our loving God to remove our shortcomings.
Understanding the difference between humility and humiliation in making the decision to change is what Step 7 is all about. Comforted by the Holy Spirit, disciples have become so grateful for the Grace made available in Jesus – Grace which enables them to overcome any temptations, trials and tribulations they encounter while following Him – that they have come to desire to be transformed into His likeness, seeking righteousness in their lives no matter the cost. The study of the Potter and the Clay enables the disciple to learn and understand the way grace works in their lives as they pray and seek God’s power to remove their shortcomings and defects. This combination of scripture with the step is all about transformation as this scripture reveals the work of God’s grace in them and as they accept the molding of God’s vision for their lives. It is then that they will experience the promises of Matthew 5:5-6 they will have a deepening sense of their inheritance of the Father’s good earth and they will find that their hunger and thirst for righteousness is satisfied.
Step 8: We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Becoming ready to make amends to those harmed through addictions and dependencies is what is involved in working Step 8. Held close by the Holy Spirit, disciples have come to desire humility as a gift from God, instead of as a concept they must achieve. The study in James 4 and Matthew 5:7 bring the concept of how each life touches another into clear focus. The passage and the step work will enable the disciple to see the effects of their choices in life and facilitate becoming willing by the power of God to make amends. This willingness is what the Spirit is at work doing in Step 8. When the willingness is in place and the Spirit has brought about a change of heart, then Step 8 naturally progresses to Step 9.
Step 9: We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Wisely making amends to those harmed through addictions and dependencies is what is done in Step 9. Guided by the Holy Spirit, disciples’ attitudes towards others begin to reflect their relationship with God. Having tasted of the forgiveness and mercy of God, this character quality of Jesus begins to work out in their lives. The study of the scriptures and the prompting of the Spirit take the willingness of Step 8 and enable amends to be made wisely and carefully as led by God.
Step 10: We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
Maintaining recovery is what Step 10 involves. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, disciples take the initiative to become diligent in remembering the lessons they have learned about God’s ways and character so that they can avoid repeating past mistakes. The process of the first 9 Steps is now a habit that is worked again and again. The benefit of addressing the core issues of the heart has become evident and a new desire imparted by the Spirit to keep short accounts with God and others is now not just understood but enjoyed. In accord with the scripture in Matthew 5:8-9 they have experienced the blessedness spoken of for those who seek and maintain peace.
Step 11: We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with our loving God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.
Step 11 is about deepening one’s relationship with God, desiring to do His will rather than one’s own will. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, disciples chew on the Word of God until their heart is so full of it that they desire to live it in everything they do. The maintaining of a living and active interaction with God has become important and the benefits have been experienced. They seek to deepen and grow in that relationship by using the tools that God has provided. Each day as the plan of God unfolds before them and they walk through the challenges and joys of the day, the disciple seeks to know God’s will and the power to carry it out. What a challenge to know and understand that will and walk in it! That challenge captures their lives in Step 11.
Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening by the Spirit using God’s Word in our lives and the Formation of Servants program, we carry the message of God’s faithfulness, kindness and mercy to others and continue in the process of learning to live under His control.
Step 12 is about sharing spiritual awakenings and recovery from addictions and dependencies with others. The decision to walk the talk has been made. Led by the Holy Spirit, disciples share with everyone weakened by their unfruitful attempts to overcome temptations, trials and tribulations, what their Lord has done for them when they were faced with similar situations. They have learned that to keep their recovery they must be willing to share it with others. Like Mary in the Magnificat, they are transformed and cannot stop talking about what the Lord has done. The message of hope and recovery is not that people are able in themselves to change, but that the Spirit of God working in the man or woman of God is able to transform a destructive and broken life into a life of joy and recovery. That is the message that is carried. It is not about them it is about their Lord and his willingness and ability to do more than anyone could ask or hope in renewal and transformation.
(*The 12 Steps of the SA Formation of Servants program have been adapted from the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Permission on file from A.A. World Services)
Provide safety for her |
The SA Foundation uses the Carver Policy Governance Model as its governing structure to complement its servant leadership culture, defined below.
The SA Foundation’s governance includes an organizational culture that is based on a 2-fold structure:
A business-like system that provides clear definitions on its consumers, products and social investors and that is structured with a non-profit charitable mandate to carry out, for the benefit of program participants who are represented by the young women and their children who come to the SA Foundation or to SA charitable organizations as a means to escape sexual exploitation/trafficking (the consumers), its vision and mission (the product), with the support of individuals (the social investors).
SAF’s business-like system is supported by 3 levels of governance responsibility that are carried out by the leadership that abides by this governance structure. These 3 levels are the Voting Membership, the Board of Trustees and the Organizational Development Team (ODT). Such structures promote power with others versus power over others, while embracing the fact that governance itself is about power, control, authority and influence.
A Christian-based community framework that is developed as an internal community centered on faith and unity in Christ and based on personal recovery, a working community centered on the SA Foundation’s core values and mission, and a community connected to SA organizations internationally through the Certification and Accreditation programs and the SA Annual Conference.
To give clear direction to staff and volunteers, for the benefit of program participants, the SA Foundation has created a servant leadership culture at its organizational level that clearly defines boundaries, values and beliefs.
At the organizational level, SA Core Values are intended to support the leadership of the SA Foundation and its organizations in developing the SA culture within the organization. These core values are translated into Principles to Live By and are to be implemented at all levels.
As well, the SA Foundation has developed a very clear philosophy of ministry (or manner of doing business) that drives the way they interpret and enact their governance, fundraising/PR practices, financial management, program delivery and human resource management.
Within the SA Foundation and its organizations the philosophy of ministry is based on the following 4 assertions, which are based on the bible:
The SA Foundation ensures that the honorary servant structure for mentoring and training graduated participants and other individuals that have served the Foundation honorably and effectively, is developed and implemented. This structure confirms the SA Foundation’s belief that program participants are the servant leaders of the future and they gladly invite them to fulfill this long-term vision as they become ready to do so.
Spirituality is not some special form of Christianity to be enjoyed by the more serious and contemplative Christians while the run of the mill just settle for the mundane. Rather spirituality is really about the Christian life. It is about following Jesus and living a life that recognizes him in the totality of life. On one level spirituality is about intimacy with God but there is more to it than that. It is an intimacy very different from any kind of intimacy we have in this life. It is really about the very basic fabric of life. With close people (a marriage partner or a good friend) intimacy is not always tangible and visible. It is not even a feeling that is present. Intimacy is not primarily a mystical emotion rather it is a way of life, a way of openness, honesty and a certain transparency and vulnerability.
For SA this spirituality, this living, breathing openness, integrity, transparency and vulnerability is at the core of what SA is all about. It is from this base that servanthood can be lived with one another and the people to be served. It is out of this core that all illusions of being haves who are helping have nots are put to rest. True spirituality is lived in community and not in individuality. SA’s spirituality is a recovery based approach that has a biblical and theological core. It is this biblical and theological grounding that keeps SA spirituality from being individualistic self help and development. That grounding keeps it firmly rooted in God and his plans and methods.
Preparing the way and providing tools for Christian people who have made the decision to be transformed into Jesus’ likeness. This sentence captures the purpose of the SA program model of transformation, called the Formation of Servants. SA places its core emphasis on the importance of recovery and spiritual growth in the process of training Christian people for servant leadership, thus SA’s motto: to become or not to become. SA seeks to facilitate growth in God’s people by teaching a model of discipleship and repentance that enables them to deal with heart issues and truly see transformation from the inside out in their daily lives. As they are transformed by the power of the Spirit they can truly serve out of a position of restored wholeness rather than imagined superiority. True servants live lives of radical repentance that keeps them ever dependent upon the Gospel of Jesus to bring about lasting growth in them. As the Gospel transforms and changes people they are enabled by the Spirit to carry the message of hope to those who are still trapped in the bondage of self delusion and addictions, to means and ways that do not provide freedom.
The tool used to facilitate spiritual development and growth is the SA Formation of Servants (FOS). The FOS is the SA program curriculum that is used to equip Christian people who:
Seek to serve their Lord – To love their God with all their hearts and with all their souls and with all their minds, and with all their strength, and to love their neighbour as themselves. (Mark 12:30-31) (NIV) Seek personal recovery – To become sanctified (John 17:17) as they seek to be set apart for sacred use, cleansed and made holy. Such sanctification is made possible through believing, obeying and allowing the Word of God to shape their lives. (Hebrews 4:12).
Seek community as they seek spiritual unity – Such spiritual unity begins with loving one another. By putting aside their own selfish desires, treating others with respect and considering others’ interests as more important than their own, they become one in spirit and purpose. (Philippians 2:1-5)
The integration of key Biblical studies is symbolic of SA’s commitment to the Bible. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of the Living God, given to his people for their instruction and growth in relationship to him and to each other. The Bible in the hands of the Spirit of God is the only tool that will bring about true recovery and restoration in the lives of broken men and women in this world. As God’s people apply the scriptures to their lives in the process of working through the SA Scriptural Twelve Steps the Spirit works transformation in them. The Word of God stands behind and in the midst of all the discipleship that is practiced in the SA community.
SA Spirituality and its Formation of Servants curriculum for spiritual growth and renewal conforms to the historic statement of faith declared in the Nicene Creed. The Creed clearly defines the nature and person of the Christian God and his disciples’ relationship to him and to each other.
We believe in one God, The Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, Of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, The only Son of God, Begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, True God from true God, Begotten, not made; Of the same essence of the Father.
Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven; He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, And was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried. The third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures. He ascended to Heaven, And is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory, To judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, The Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, And with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic* and apostolic church. We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, And to life in the world to come. Amen.
*Catholic with a small “c” means universal, of the whole Christian church. With the capital “C” it means the Christian church that recognizes the Pope as its supreme temporal leader.
Provide safety for herGive today Give today |
|
|
