Brief Statement of Faith of the Mexican Communion of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches (CMIRP) As heirs of the reformed, biblical, and theological tradition, rooted in the liberating impetus of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (John 8.36), we present ourselves as a communion of churches and communities willing to offer a solid testimony thereof in any place and circumstance. 1.1 We affirm the conviction that God has revealed himself/herself in history as father and mother (Matthew 7.11; 23.37) 1 and in that capacity has expressed his/her sovereignty, love, justice and goodness in order to manifest his/her beneficent presence without distinctions of any kind (Amos 9.9), a presence that must confront, here and now, any human and structural obstacles that hinder its proper understanding and acceptance. 1.2 We therefore affirm that we are urged to reflect God’s love in our faith communities (2 Corinthians 5.1415). These communities —in their smallness and finitude (Matthew 25.31-46)— responsibly assume this task with the confidence derived from the promises of God’s closeness and support. 2 In this way, we affirm God’s open preference for childhood as symbol and reality of God’s Kingdom. 1.3 We underscore the commitment to continuously guide our actions so that they may be the result of a prophetic discernment of the current and future times, in this way positioning ourselves according to the challenges set forth by our efforts. 2.1 We affirm the conviction that in Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, the believer, and of Sophia, the wisdom (Proverbs 8), the God of the migrants Abraham, Sarah and Hagar (Genesis 21.8-21), 3 God of many other representatives and participants in the biblical covenant, manifested fully in order to make the life of all beings worthy and whole (John 10.10), with all the benefits made possible through a life of authentic testimony that led
Cf. Sallie McFague, “God as Mother”, in Models of God: Theology for an Ecological Nuclear Age. Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1987, pp. 97-123; Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel, “God as Father” and Jürgen Moltmann, “God as Mother”, in God-His and Hers. New York, Crossroad, 1991, pp. 25-32 and 33-38, respectively. 2 See Paul Tillich, The Eternal Now. New York, Scribner’s and Sons, 1963, pp. 119-120: “The prophets give the answer: Nations are saved if there is a Small minority, a group of people, who represent what the nation is called to be. They may be defeated, but their spirit will be a power of resistance against the evil spirits who are detrimental to the nation. The question of saving power in the nation is the question of whether there is a minority, even a small one, which is willing to resist the anxiety produced by propaganda, the conformity enforced by threat, the hatred stimulated by ignorance”. 3 Cf. Elsa Tamez, “La mujer que complicó la historia de la salvación: el relato de Agar leído desde América Latina”, in Vida y Pensamiento, San José, vol. 3, núm. 1-2, 1983, pp. 19-30; “The Woman Who Complicated the History of Salvation”, in John S. Pobee and Barbel von Wartenberg-Potter, ed., New Eyes for Reading: Biblical and Theological Reflections by Women from the Third World. Geneva, World Council of Churches, 1986, pp. 5-17. 1