About the Elder
Rev. Elder Glenna Shepherd
Region 4
Statement
of Faith and Spiritual Journey
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I believe in the Holy
One: the Source of all that is, Being Itself, God/dess – the
Eternal Spirit who is love, wisdom, compassion, justice, and
peace. I believe that God is creator of all and that God can
be known in and through the entirety of that creation. I believe
that God is goodness beyond our comprehension and that the love of God
draws all creation toward that life-giving power.
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I believe that God created all,
including human beings, in the Divine image and has imbued all people
with the power to live out that divine nature in this world. Human
beings, however, are unaware or fearful of these capacities to live in
shared power, love, and peace. We turn from God (that power in
ourselves and others for creating love and justice) and live lives that
do not build the realm of God in our time. We – both
individually and socially - create barriers of fear, jealousy, abuse,
pain, anger and disbelief. This sin separates us from Spirit, from
our own Divine nature, and from right relationship with
others.
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I believe that God seeks
continually to offer us love and empower us to live in peace and right
relationship, with purpose, creativity, power, passion, and spiritual
openness to the wisdom of God. I believe that God comes into
relationship with human beings through Divine love and grace that is
continually received by faith and surrender of soul, body, and
life. I believe that God can do in and through us what we are
unable to do without the Spirit.
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I believe that God is known
through the wonders of creation; through sacred texts (to us as
Christians, in a primary way through the Hebrew and Christian
scriptures); in the life of Jesus and the spiritual presence of the
resurrected Christ; through the indwelling presence of Spirit in human
beings, human expression, experience, reason, and art.
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I believe that Jesus lived in
unity with the Spirit of God; that his life gives us hope –
offering the possibility and promise that all human beings can live in
that unity – in God’s wisdom, righteousness, healing,
and freedom. I believe that Jesus is the fullest incarnation of
God that the world has ever known. I believe that Jesus was
crucified, that he died and was buried, but that death could not hold
the power of God in him.
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I believe that the Spirit is
God available to us – in individuals, in the church, beyond the
church. I believe that Spirit draws us, calls us, guides and
offers insight and wisdom. I believe that we can commune
with Spirit and receive the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit and
guidance and power for living. This communion can take the forms
of prayer, meditation, worship, knowing and being known in community,
and through compassionate action and service. The Spirit’s
power in us is the most powerful when we turn our will over to the will
and empowerment of God.
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I believe that the Bible
– the Hebrew and Christian scriptures – is a faith
testimony, an expression of the experience of God’s presence,
guidance, action, wisdom, and truth in the lives of individuals,
communities, and nations. In its history, story, symbol, law,
poetry, epistle, and prophecy, the Bible tells of the nature and work of
God in creation, deliverance, revelation, inspiration, challenge,
confrontation and liberation. I believe that the Bible is a living
book, that its truth about God and human beings offers us spiritual
resources for our time. Further, I believe that the scriptures
become the word of God in our time as we live them out, find ourselves
in its stories, and rediscover the God to whom it points.
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I believe that the Church
exists to LIVE JESUS, that is, to be in relationship with God; to live
as Jesus modeled and as Spirit empowers – with love as our prime
value. We are called to worship and prayer, to spiritual growth
and development that equips us to live in authenticity and service
– that God’s realm of love, justice and peace may be known
to the greatest extent possible every day! Our arenas for
ministry are internal and external, to be the body of Christ to one
another and to the world. We follow Jesus in speaking and acting
the truth in love; in touching and healing those in need; in encouraging
and challenging one another; in sharing the redeeming, liberating love
of God; in working toward justice and peace.
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The gifts to the church are the Spirit, the
word, the presence of the Divine embodied in faith community, and the
sacraments. I believe that the sacramental/ritual life of the
church empowers the church with a taste of God’s presence and
power that fills our bodies, minds, spirits, and
wills.
I have rich memories of communion with God from as
far back as I can remember. In fact, memories of God are my first
memories. I hold deep within me early experiences of being with
God in joy and fullness. This strong, intimate prayer life was the
centerpiece of my faith. Throughout my childhood and adolescence,
I walked through my days in wonder and deep relationship with the
Spirit.
I was raised Southern Baptist in the mountains of
East Tennessee. I like to say that I experienced the best of what
it means to be Baptist without much of the negative. As a
child and teenager, I received the benefits of thorough Bible training,
an understanding of ministry as the work of all people of God,
encouragement to develop my spiritual life, an emphasis on worship, and
an urging to study the scriptures for myself. The stories of
Jesus were my teachers as I began to learn how to navigate life and the
presence of Christ gave purpose and meaning to my life.
I became familiar with a wide range of Christian
theologies and worship styles as I served Baptist, United Methodist,
Presbyterian, Church of God, and Anglican congregations as a music
minister. Given the diversity of our denomination, this was
excellent preparation for MCC ministry. My seminary experience
forged deep connections between theological and ethical inquiry and the
Christian life.
My faith – both practiced and conceptualized
– has deepened and broadened, has become increasingly relevant as
I have met with the crises, disappointments, fears and changes of my
life. I have come to rely on the companionship, care, and guidance
of God through coming out and an ensuing divorce and custody battle;
through a year and a half of betrayal and trauma which threatened my
vocation; and through the difficult first years of recovery.
Through these challenges, I have discovered a new and vibrant reliance
on the Spirit. My faith has been remade and my ability to be
honest and comfortable with my own weaknesses and strengths has
transformed my life and ministry.
During the last five years, I have begun to live a
life daily dependence, seeking the will and heart of God and finding
contentment in God’s work with and in me. I am growing in
ways which were beyond my comprehension a few short years
ago.
Also Read Rev. Elder
Glenna's...
Statement of
Call to Be a Regional Elder
Statement
of Vision for the Region
Statement of Transformational Leadership
Thoughts on
Collegial Leadership
Statement of Multi-Cultural and Multi-National
Competencies and Experience
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