Responsive Reading from the Heidelberg Catechism


Leader:
What do you believe concerning the holy universal church and the communion of the saints?

ALL:
We believe that the Son of God
through his Spirit and Word,
out of the entire human race,
from the beginning of the world to its end,
gathers, protects, and preserves for himself
a community chosen for eternal life
and united in true faith.
And of this community I am
and always will be a living member.
Believers, one and all,
as members of the Lord Jesus Christ,
are partakers with him
in all his treasures and gifts;
therefore, each one must feel himself
bound to use his gifts readily and
cheerfully for the advantage
and welfare of other members.

(Adapted from The Heidelberg Catechism, Questions 54 & 55)