A “Messy Middle” Manifesto
by Kate Boyd
WE BELIEVE IN BOUNDARIES, NOT BOXES.
We hold to orthodox Christian beliefs but we don’t think Christianity in one expression is totally right or wrong. We fit a lot of places in between, and we’re okay with that.
WE LOVE THE GOSPEL AND STAND FOR JUSTICE.
We think the gospel is the best news ever, but we also believe that God loves our bodies and lives as much as he loves our souls. So we seek to be a part of his restorative work in the world.
WE CLING TO GOD IN FAITH BUT CREATE SPACE FOR DOUBTS.
God is big enough for our doubts and even meets us in them. We wrestle and we sit with them because they need space to breathe, but we carry them all with our faith in a loving God.
WE BELIEVE IN A GOD BIGGER THAN OUR BRAINS.
We think there is a lot to know about God, and we seek out that knowledge. But we also understand that with a God as big as ours, we also live with some mystery of the divine and we kinda like it that way.
WE BELIEVE THE WORLD IS WIDER THAN OUR EXPERIENCES.
The global Church is a big tent, and we know it’s bigger than our localized experiences (both good and bad). We participate in her legacy and celebrate her diversity in idea and practice.
WE ARE COMMITTED TO GOD AND HIS KINGDOM ABOVE ANY ALLEGIANCE TO COUNTRY OR INSTITUTION.
We live as heavenly citizens in a place called earth, and we remember our devotion to God is above any earthly power. We’re neither conservative nor progressive, and we are committed to living the purposes of God’s present and coming Kingdom and participating in its work of restoration today.
JESUS IS OUR ONLY CELEBRITY.
We celebrate the contributions of God’s servants to our spiritual education and formation, but we look to Jesus above all other humans and put our hope in him alone.
WE BELIEVE THAT WE BELONG TOGETHER.
We believe that God transforms us in community. So we seek it out and create safe spaces to be in community with both intimacy and integrity, and we each partner with the Holy Spirit to disciple one another in the Way of Jesus.
WE BELIEVE IN THE TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS.
We judge our success by how we are growing in our love for God and our love for neighbor, and we judge that growth in attitude and action as we trust the Holy Spirit to develop those loves within us and our communities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KATE BOYD
is an Author, Bible teacher, and host of the Happy & Holy podcast. She helps believers who find themselves in the messy middle between loving the church and leaving it to more confidently walk the lines between doubt and certainty and faith and action with love and grace for all. She has traveled the world to interview and tell the stories of believers on mission, and inspired by those encounters, she creates spaces to facilitate wholehearted discipleship in the church at home. She is studying theology with an emphasis in biblical studies at Perkins School of Theology.
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