For thousands of years Jews maintained their identity as a people by studying Torah. In spite of not being a nation state, God’s word was powerful enough to sustain and keep them. Inspired by that example, we too want to study scripture for the purpose of living as God’s people. Like the Jews, we experience ourselves as sojourners living in the midst of an alien empire. In order to survive and not be assimilated, we know that we will need to be especially diligent in the study of scripture, theology, and the traditions of the church.

Commitments

Towards this end, we commit ourselves to the following:

• personal devotions that include scripture study
• a weekly group study time
• reading significant books that deepen our understanding of scripture and the church
• enabling, as possible, people in our midst to give themselves to study
• inviting Christian scholars to share with us the fruits of their labors
• a general attitude of respect toward Christian scholarship