By Maureen Wright

Several years ago, I was asked to write an entry for a devotion booklet being compiled by one of the churches in the Presbytery. Each writer was assigned a scripture passage. My assigned passage was Romans 10:14-15 – “But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (from the New Revised Standard Version).

In 1951, acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow began a radio program, This I Believe, which presented essays about the authors’ most fundamental and closely held beliefs. The program featured Americans from all walks of life and sought, in the words of Murrow himself, “to point to the common meeting grounds of beliefs which is the essence of brotherhood and the floor of our civilization.”

In one of her earliest books, Reaching for Rainbows, Presbyterian poet Ann Weems wrote a poem titled, Statement of Faith. Every line of the poem begins with the words, “We believe.” In her usual profound yet down-to-earth way, the statements of belief range from “We believe the Holy Spirit works through daisies and wiggly children” to “We believe in old people running and children leading.” It seems to me that Murrow’s This I Believe was a compilation of such Statements of Faith.

The words from Romans continue to echo in my mind as a call, like the one from Edward R. Murrow, like the example of Ann Weems. In these words of Paul, we in the church are to become those whose feet bring the good news. This image of messengers with beautiful feet is romantic; I picture gilded cherubs. Yet the reality implies that we are prepared to share the Good News. Many of us when asked to bring the Good News think not of romantic beauty but instead think, “I am not qualified” because I have feet of clay. We are uncertain how to articulate This I Believe, how to share our statements of faith.

Since its creation in 1987, the Presbytery of West Virginia has looked to God to guide its ministry and mission, to build up relationships within the Presbytery. Leaders and staff have studied God’s word and listened for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we sought to define and live out who is God calling us to be and what is God calling us to do. The Presbytery of West Virginia (as well as the Presbyteries that preceded it) have sought to share This I Believe, this is the statement of faith of the PWV.

As the Presbytery of West Virginia lives out the Strategic Plan approved at the November 2024 Presbytery meeting, I challenge our Presbytery leaders to reflect again on its beliefs, to write its This I Believe essay, to confess with absolute certainty a Statement of Faith. I challenge the Presbytery’s churches to write your own This I Believe essay, to compose a Statement of Faith. Do all this to the glory of God, sent to proclaim the Good News so that those in our communities may hear and call on Jesus Christ, so that they may believe in him.

I pray for you – We believe in your scriptures, O God. We believe that you call us to believe, to hear, to proclaim, to be sent out. Thank you for your faithfulness to your servants from the resurrection of Jesus to the formation of the Presbytery of West Virginia to today. Grant us courage, wisdom, and inspiration to share with our community: This I Believe, this is our Statement of Faith, to your glory. Amen.