Statement of Faith

The board of Cyclical INC bear concerted witness to the following articles, to which we subscribe, to which we hold to be essential to our ministry, and to which are foundational for our work.

I. God has revealed Godself to be the living and true God, perfect in love and righteous in all ways, one in essence, existing eternally in the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

II. God, who discloses Godself to humankind through the entirety of God’s creation, has spoken in the words and events of redemptive history. This history is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, who is made known to us by the activity of the Holy Spirit, through the body of Christ and in Scripture.

III. Scripture is an essential and trustworthy record of this divine self-disclosure. All the books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, are the written word of God. They are to be interpreted according to their context and purpose and in reverent obedience to the Holy Spirit who speaks through them in living power.

IV. The mediator between God and humankind is Christ Jesus our Lord, God’s eternal son, who, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, fully shared and fulfilled our humanity in a life of perfect obedience. By his death in our stead, he revealed the divine love and upheld divine justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, the third day he rose bodily from the grave, victorious over death and the powers of darkness. He ascended into heaven where, at God’s right hand, he intercedes for all people and rules as Lord over all.

V. The Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the gospel, renews our hearts, persuading us to repent of our sins and welcome the saving love of Jesus and life in the Kingdom of God. By the same Spirit we are led to trust in divine mercy, whereby we are forgiven all our sins, and justified by faith to move forward in our vocation as God’s people. In the same manner, the Holy Spirit leads us with comfort and inspiration guiding us towards shalom as we do the work to which God has called us.

VI. Every human being carries the image of God, without exception. We acknowledge that certain human beings including, but not limited to BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled communities have been marginalized as less than, and the church is often complicit in this exclusion and marginalization. We recognize the brokenness this has caused many people, but we are hopeful that we will join God in reconciling in order that we might bring value and wholeness to those who have been subject to systems of injustice.

VII. The Church is summoned by Christ to offer worship to God and to serve God by the Church’s witness, by tending the flock through the ministry of the word and sacraments, by identifying and addressing injustices, by showing compassion and mercy for the marginalized, by bearing witness to Jesus as a sign and foretaste of the Kingdom of God, and by creating space to encounter God in order that all may be sent to join God in God’s mission.

VIII. God’s redemptive purpose will be consummated by the return of Christ to raise the dead in a bodily resurrection, to judge all people according to their deeds, and to establish God’s glorious kingdom. Then shall the eager expectation of the creation be fulfilled and the whole earth shall proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new.