Riverside Presbyterian Church

The First Word

A Movement for Reconciliation: Why a Movement for Reconciliation? 2 Cor. 5:19 “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself… and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Dear Riversiders, The word reconciliation may sound like a theological term but it is also grounded in economics. To “reconcile the books” means to balance them, to square them. It means to bring all the factors back together in balance. The same is true with what God has done for us in Christ - “all this is from God who ‘reconciled’ us to himself.” Now that we are reconciled with God, our ministry, our mission, our purpose is to become people who work toward reconciliation with our neighbors and even within ourselves. In this world, there are a gazillion places that need reconciling -- like politics, guilt, shame, conflict, division, tribalism, regret, violence, grief, forgiveness -- the list is legion. So, this is why the Session and the staff at Riverside have adopted as our mission statement “Riverside: A Movement For Reconciliation”. From now on everything we do will be with this single purpose mission in mind. We will continue to unpack what this means more particularly for Riverside and for each of us as we go forward. For now, just make a list in your life of all the people and places that you and we need reconciling. Naming them is the first step, bringing them to church is the second. Peace, Steve

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