A Confession for Such a Time as This
We are living in a moment of rupture.
Across our neighborhoods and nations, the fractures are visible—political, racial, ecological, ecclesial. Many who bear the name “Christian” are increasingly entangled with power, exclusion, and cultural dominance. And many others—quietly, persistently—are asking a deeper question:
Is this really the Way of Jesus?
The Jesus Way Confession emerges from this tension—not as a final word, but as a faithful response. It is a contemporary confession shaped in the spirit of the church’s historic witness, echoing moments like the Barmen Declaration, when communities of faith were compelled to name, with clarity and courage, what is true and what is not.
This confession does not seek to win arguments or secure institutional control. It seeks something far more demanding… to re-center our lives, our communities, and our public witness in the living Way of Jesus.
It is an invitation to remember—
that Jesus did not coerce but welcomed,
did not dominate but served,
did not exclude but drew near,
did not align with empire but revealed another Kin-dom—
a kin-dom of shalom for all and everything.
From Confession to Collective Action
But confession, if it remains words alone, risks becoming another form of religious performance.
This is why Parish Collective has invited me to present a workshop during Inhabit to present what we’re calling the Collective Parish Action Guide—a simple, adaptable pathway for communities who long to embody what they confess. Rooted in the conviction that the church is not a building or a brand but a people in a place, this guide invites followers of Jesus to:
- Connect across denominational, cultural, and social divides
- Listen deeply to the stories and wounds of their neighborhood
- Learn from Scripture, tradition, and the lived realities of their place
- Lament the harm caused by systems of oppression—including those perpetuated in the name of Christianity
- Prepare for faithful, embodied presence
- Act together in public, reconciling witness
This is not about launching new programs.
It is about becoming a credible presence—together—in your parish.
It is about recovering the ancient and urgent truth… we do not follow Jesus alone.
A Guide for Shared Discernment
To support this journey, I have also created The Jesus Way Confession Small Group Discussion Guide—a ten-session invitation into communal discernment and practice.
This guide is not a curriculum to master but a space to be formed.
Together, participants are invited to engage Scripture, reflect honestly, listen deeply, and imagine what it might look like to live the Way of Jesus in their particular bodies, communities, and contexts. Each session opens space for dialogue, prayer, and shared discernment—trusting that the Spirit is already at work among us.
Importantly, this is not meant to be done in isolation.
We encourage groups to look beyond themselves—to connect with other followers of Jesus in their neighborhood, across traditions and differences, and to begin discerning a shared, public witness.
Because in a time of fragmentation,
harmonious presence may be the most prophetic proclamation we can offer.
An Invitation
You are not required to use this confession. Others have written, and will continue to write, faithful responses for this moment. You are encouraged—even invited—to adapt, expand, or create your own, rooted in the particularities of your place and people.
But you are invited to respond.
To refuse the distortions of the gospel that wound and divide.
To reclaim the beauty, humility, and courage of the Jesus Way.
To join with others—across every dividing line—to embody a more faithful witness.
This is not a moment for passive belief.
It is a moment for embodied confession.
And perhaps, together,
we might become a living testimony—
that another way is not only possible…
it is already among us.
Peace, dwight
