NACSW's
Mission and Christian Identity
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NACSW's
Members
The
members of NACSW represent a rich diversity of Christian denominations
and traditions. NACSW recognizes that different Christian denominations
and traditions use different language to express the heart of historic
Christian faith, and supports the use of expressions such as the
following examples for this purpose:
a)
“Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior” – stemming from passages such as
Romans 10:9-10
b) “In Christ,
God reconciled the world to Himself” – stemming from Scriptural passages
such as II Corinthians 5:19
c) “We believe in
One God, the Father who created us and all things, the Son who redeems
us from sin and death, and the Holy Spirit who renews and sanctifies
us.” |
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Apostles’ Creed1
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin
Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
Nicene
Creed2
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
NACSW
Statement of Faith and Practice3
Tenets emphasizing Christian
beliefs:
1. There is one God, who created and sustains everything that exists,
and who continues to be active in human history.
2. Humanity is the highest creation of God, but rebelled against its
Creator, and is in need of forgiveness and reconciliation.
3. God became incarnate in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, who was
raised bodily from the dead to reconcile human beings to their
Creator, and who has promised to return personally in judgment
to complete the establishment of His kingdom.
4. God works in and through people in the person of the Holy Spirit.
5. The character and purposes of God are revealed in the Bible, the Word
of God, which is the basis for what Christians are to believe
and how they are to live.
6. Jesus Christ calls all Christians to be a caring community and a
corporate witness to faith in Him.
Tenets emphasizing human
relationships and responsibilities:
7. Every individual is a person of worth, with basic human rights and
essential human responsibilities.
8. The uniqueness of each human being and the distinctiveness of social
groups derive from factors such as age, gender, race, ethnicity,
national origin, life philosophy, family, culture, and economic
and social structures.
9. Human beings are interdependent with each other and with their social
and physical environments.
10. Jesus Christ is Lord over all areas of life, including social,
economic and political systems.
Tenets emphasizing vocation:
11. A dynamic relationship exists between the Christian life and social
work practice.
12. Christians in social work ought not to be motivated by temporal
wealth, power or security.
13. Christians in social work ought to examine and evaluate all human
ideologies and social work theories and methods as to their
consistency with the Bible, their consciences, social laws, and
professional codes of ethics.
14. Christians in social work ought to work for the temporal and eternal
well-being of all human beings, and for the redemption of human
communities and social institutions.
15. Christians in social work ought to support and submit themselves to
the highest standards of professional education, practice, and
ethics.
16. Christians in social work ought to use the insights of their faith
in helping people, and to treat everyone as Jesus Christ would
have them treated.
Reference Notes
1 The Apostles' Creed is used widely by a number of Christian
denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes,
including the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism,
the Anglican Communion, Presbyterians, Methodists, and
Congregationalists. Its name comes from 5th-century tradition
that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost,
each of the Twelve Apostles dictated part of it. It was sent by
Ambrose, who may be its author, to Pope Siricius in about 390.
This is the English version of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church maintaining the traditional division into twelve
articles, the numbering of which is here added to the text (
Apostles' Creed in Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
(Oxford University Press 2005).
2 The Nicene Creed is also used widely in Christian liturgy. It was
adopted in the city of Nicaea, from which its name derives, by
the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325
(Jeffrey, D. L. A Dictionary of Biblical tradition in English
literature. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1992). There are
many versions; this one is published by the Presbyterian Church
USA: Book of Confessions, (Louisville: Office of the
General Assembly Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 2004), 1.1-3. The
Nicene Creed has been normative to the Anglican Church, Assyrian
Church of the East, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox
churches, the Roman Catholic Church including the Eastern
Catholic Churches and the Old Catholic Church, the Lutheran
Church and most Protestant denominations.
3 This Statement of Faith and Practice, while clearly not a historic
creed like the Nicene Creed or Apostle's Creed, has a long
history of being used by NACSW to identify its position as a
Christian association. This statement was extensively revised
during the 1980s by Alan Keith-Lucas (b1910-d1995).
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