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Christian Unity & Inclusion in Christ
St. John’s Presbyterian Church Session
Embracing diversity is not merely an act of inclusion.
It is a reflection of God's love at work among us. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to welcome one another with open hearts and minds, honoring the dignity and worth of every person.
Our differences do not divide us.
They enrich us and strengthen our shared life in faith and meaning. In unity, we celebrate each individual as a valued part of God's family, growing together in love, understanding and purpose.
To God be the glory
St. John’s Presbyterian Church Session
April 2026
We are guided by the apostolic call to
“be patient, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, –– Ephesians 4:2–3
even amid our differences. While those differences can at times discourage us, they also invite us to experience and embody the mission of Jesus in our own time. Learning again how His grace holds us together.
Jesus welcomed women such as Mary Magdalene and entrusted them to be the first witnesses of His resurrection in a patriarchal culture. He brought together bitter ideological rivals Matthew, a tax collector and collaborator with Rome, and Simon the Zealot, a revolutionary opposed to Roman rule. He restored to fellowship those who had been excluded from temple worship: those with leprosy (Mark 1:40–45), a woman suffering from a flow of blood (Mark 5:25–34), and even gentiles such as Cornelius the centurion (Acts 10). He sent Philip to baptize the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26–40), extending the reach of the gospel beyond every social and cultural boundary.
Jesus consistently taught that in the kingdom of God the last shall be first, the humbled shall be exalted, and those we are tempted to overlook or despise may display the deepest compassion (Luke 10:25–37).
At St. John’s, one of our core values is Embracing Diversity, affirming that Jesus Christ helps us see others with grace-filled eyes. Our congregation reflects remarkable diversity, yet we also confess that fear, silence, or inaction have sometimes kept us from showing the full measure of Christ’s love to one another. We repent of those moments and seek the healing and reconciliation that Christ desires for His Church, committing ourselves to welcome all whom Christ welcomes.
In this spirit, and in order to preserve our unity in Christ amid our differences, we offer the following affirmation in accordance with the example of Jesus’ own ministry and the Book of Order: that membership and leadership at St. John’s are not to be denied to anyone because of background, condition, affiliation, or circumstance. Including differences of culture, identity, experience, political or ideological viewpoint, or personal history. In the spirit of Christ who called the powerful and the powerless, the poor and the rich, the overlooked, marginalized, or those treated as outsiders. We commit ourselves to extend that same welcome today. Ministry in the church is not a right to be claimed, but a calling to be discerned and embraced. This sacred call is based on God’s gracious initiative confirmed by the inward witness of the Spirit and affirmed by the Body of Christ through the prayerful discernment of the congregation and the laying on of hands. Though we may differ in perspective or experience, we hold fast to our shared vocation: to follow Jesus Christ as redeemed sinners, proclaiming the Gospel, baptizing and making disciples, and teaching all that our Savior has commanded.
In this spirit, we affirm these guiding scriptures
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
–– Matthew 22: 37–40
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.”
–– Luke 6: 37–38
“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” –– John 13: 34
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” –– Romans 8: 1–4
“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”
–– Romans 13: 8–10
“Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” –– Romans 15: 7
“For just as the body is one and has many members… so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” –– 1 Corinthians 12: 12–13
“In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” –– Ephesians 1: 7
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing – it is the gift of God. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.”
–– Ephesians 2: 8–10
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” –– Colossians 3: 14
All biblical citations are from the NRSV translation
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