We still hear talk about ourselves as the most powerful country on earth. On a more positive note, there is evidence that our American mind-set is changing. Global organizations are achieving prominence in the news - the United Nations, The World Bank, The World Trade Organization, Doctors Without Borders. All of them are established to safeguard human rights in creating a more just and equitable economic system, and to respond to crises that one nation alone, especially developing countries, are not able to accomplish by themselves. We may argue about how effective these organizations are, but we must admit that there is a movement to engage countries to view their own development interdependently.
Every nation shares responsibility for the global community.
We are the Church, the People of God. The Church is struggling to nourish the spirituality of a very diverse people. And, as though that role were not enough, we, as Church, must offer direction even as we integrate the Gospel within a world of scientific and technological advances. So while a great deal of the church's resources are used to maintain its institutions, its traditions and its service to the people of God, it must also play a vital and leading role in directing resources to the human community's search for the Holy in all creation. The congregation has existed just short of a century.