What do the words ‘Open, Inclusive, Questioning’ mean?

OPEN

Being open, means not making claims to be in possession of ‘the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’.    We do claim to have some awareness of God’s truth, but at the same time we recognise that God is greater than any religion, and therefore we want to be open to discern truth, and accept it wherever it may come from.
 

INCLUSIVE

Being inclusive means that we regard everybody as a child of God, and heir to what God wills for his children.  We don’t exclude anybody because of their colour, creed or culture. We are all together on life’s journey, open to give and receive from whoever comes through our door.

 

QUESTIONING

We need to be a questioning Church, lest creeds and doctrines harden into a form which crushes people, instead of liberating them. The very concept of God is a great mystery, in which ‘we live and move and have our being’.

With a questioning mind, with a humble attitude and a loving spirit, we can all be led deeper into the Mystery, finding meaning, purpose and self-fulfilment for our lives.