FACING FORWARD Our Heritage Is Christ

Our Church heritage is flled with symbols and practices that point to Christ. The recent 2022 Assembly theme was taken directly from our Church vision: “Reconciling the world to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.” As a Wesleyan Pentecostal movement, we understand that Christ established the church to live out his life on earth, to serve among others as his body of love, and to serve in his stead in righteousness, healing, and power. Jesus is our Spirit Baptizer who calls us, indwells us, and empowers us as part of his church—his kingdom —to reconcile the world in preparation for his soon coming.

Our own ecclesial heritage is rooted in the early Holiness movement, a global revival that called the universal church to a personal encounter with Christ. Jesus taught profoundly of the Spirit in his farewell messages in John’s Gospel: “He (the Holy Spirit) will speak of me.” As a Spirit-flled church, this is our commitment, our life, and our purpose. The Spirit points to Christ who is the center of life in our movement, in our teachings, in our traditional practices, and in the daily life of the Church.

In water baptism, we are baptized to him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We give witness to his ongoing work in us, for when we die to sin, we come alive in commitment and service to Christ.

Our practice of footwashing is a moment that points to the life of Jesus—not only to his humility and service, but to our being accepted by Christ even in our weaknesses, temptations, and failures. We are happy to wash the feet of others, calling one another in reconciliation, forgiveness, holiness, and acceptance.

The celebration of the Lord’s Supper provides a moment to refect on what Christ has done for us and allows us to continue to receive his work in us. Sharing together at the Lord’s table in our Pentecostal practice is a moment of worship—a lived-out celebration of Christ’s presence among us where we can pray for healing and strength. It is a moment for the Bread of Life to nourish and the New Covenant of the cup to strengthen us in redemption and send us out in anointing. We pray for healing, through the laying on hands and anointing with oil, and receive renewal and wholeness, knowing it is Christ who heals.

Our Church covenant is another symbol from our heritage that points to Christ. It is a sacred promise to walk in the light of Christ, committing ourselves to him and to one another in mutual service, being covenanted together in his calling for us as his body.

Our Church fag, it has been said, is a symbol of Christology for our Church. I would remind us, it is also an ecclesial representation of our life as part of the Church. The colors of our Church emblem point to Christ: red for the blood of Jesus, white for his purity in which we participate as he forgives and sanctifes us, purple for his lordship, and blue for the cherished truth of Christ in which we live. It is also Christ we see in the scepter, star, and crown, for he is Lord and soon coming King. He is coming for his beloved bride, his church, and all who believe in him and follow him. The unfnished blue diamond calls our attention to Christ’s prayer to the Father that we all might become one, a part of the fold of Christ himself.

Last year, at the International Assembly, we celebrated our traditional “Parade of Nations.” I watched Pastor Marius carrying the fag of Poland, the newest nation in Wider Europe and the Middle East, as he walked the aisle of the Assembly foor and joined the many fags of other nations on the stage. It was a personal moment of joy for him, for his National Bishop Petr Szlaur, and for me. I was reminded that this was not a traditional moment celebrating our history; it was our identity in Christ as another nation was added into our own fold and participating in the kingdom work of “reconciling the world to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Bishop Clayton Endecott Wider Europe and Middle East General Presbyter