The Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace
“The Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace,” written by the Office of Theology and Worship, addresses issues resulting from some critical assessments of the faith, order and mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Specifically, while many critics of the PC(USA) applaud the church’s official theological and moral standards, they assert that these positions are inconsequential if persons can depart from them with impunity.
The issue is identity: what makes us who we are? “The Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace” acknowledges that as a finite, limited creature of God, the church must exhibit a coherence marked by the presence of boundaries — an ability to recognize what is part of it and what is not.
“The Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace” addresses directly the matter of “ecclesiastical discipline uprightly ministered," explores the painful reality of congregations that choose to leave the PC(USA) and presents the Scripture’s call to maintain God’s gift of unity, granted through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.