I Must Bring Them Also
Interfaith Connections

Call to Worship

God is the creator of all things and will weld them together at the end of time.  Worship God who takes on all forms, who becomes Becoming.

Worship the God who dwells in our own thoughts, the One God, hidden in all creatures, the Inner Self of all Beings.

In this Great God the finite and the infinite meet, and all opposites are reconciled.  All peoples will come to see their kinship.

In the days to come, the Temple of Yahweh will be put on top of the Mountains. The peoples will stream to it.  They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift  sword against nation, there will be no more training for war.

Love will be our law.  Compassion will be the standard of holiness.

(From Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:5, Micah 4, arranged by Denise Cumbee Long)

---

Affirmation of Community

We believe that all people are God's people, that every child is holy, that every person is a part of the sacred family.

We believe that God's love embraces all, and that to exclude any person would be contrary to the message of Jesus.

We proclaim that this community of faith, [name of your congregation], will strive to be as open as the radical realm of God, and as liberating as the love of Christ.

And so we journey into our hopeful future with joy, pledging to offer each other welcome, compassion and care. 

May God grant us wisdom, grace, and guidance in our life together.

(by Douglas S. Long, weekly affirmation used at North Raleigh United Church of Christ, Raleigh )

---

Everyone Who Is Called by God’s Name

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God . And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

For all the nations?
For all the nations.

Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Everyone who thirsts come to the waters.

Everyone who thirsts?
Everyone who thirsts.

Thus says God, “I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; 

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up,’ and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name.”

Everyone who is called by God’s name?
Everyone who is called by God’s name.

(from the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance , www.e-alliance.ch/wad_resources.jsp)

---

A Litany of Commitment

In the light of our reflections on Christian discipleship, we can discern ways to approach the challenges of our multi-religious society.

We will serve faithfully, meeting others with open hearts and minds.

All relationship begins with meeting. In our everyday lives, we will meet and form relationships with men and women of other religious traditions. At times these may be difficult relationships, based on bitter memories.

However, we have been created for loving community and will not disengage from trying to build bridges of understanding and cooperation throughout the human family.

True relationship respects the other's identity. We encounter the image of God in the particularity of another person's life.

We will meet others as they are, in their particular hopes, ideas, struggles and joys. These are articulated through their own traditions, practices and world-views.

True relationship is based on integrity. If we meet others as they are, then we must accept their right to determine and define their own identity. We also must remain faithful to who we are; only as Christians can we be present with integrity.

We will not ask others to betray their religious commitments, nor will we betray our commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

True relationship offers an opportunity to serve. Jesus comes among us as a servant. We too are given the opportunity to serve others, in response to God's love for us.

We will join with those of other religious traditions to serve the whole of God's creation. Through advocacy, education, direct services and community development, we respond to the realities of a world in need. Our joining with others in such service can be an eloquent proclamation of what it means to be in Christ.