My Statement of Faith – Rev. Justin Pierson

During the pastor search process, the Pastor Search Team requested that interested candidates submit a cover letter, resume, and statement of faith. Cover letters and resumes are fairly straight forward in any application process, so they did not much time to write.

However, completing a statement of faith felt like a much bigger ask. How could I explain my faith on a single page? How could I articulate all of the complexities and callings of my faith in a single, cohesive narrative that the pastor search team could easily understand?

It took some time as I worked on several drafts, but I finally created something that accurately described my faith and my calling to ministry. While some in the congregation have probably read or heard it already, I want to share it again in this week’s pastoral reflection. My statement of faith doesn’t have to be your statement of faith, but as I transition into this new role, I want to be clear about how I understand my faith and how it shapes my work as Central’s Senior Pastor. 

Justin Pierson - Statement of Faith

Until I left for college, I had only ever been active in one church. From infancy, I was in the church building whenever the doors were open. Weeks were filled with Sunday school, worship, children’s choir, Mission Friends, Vacation Bible School, and more. Throughout childhood and adolescence, my church was truly the place I felt like I belonged and was a large influence on my calling.

As I pursued ministry, I began to meet people who had different experiences from mine. In 2015, I started an internship at a church in Vienna, Austria, one of what seemed like a only a few that were striving to serve refugees seeking community in a new country. In 2016, I became the Compassion Ministry Assistant at Richmond’s First Baptist Church, where most of my daily work was interacting with neighbors experiencing homelessness, and I heard examples of how often Christians had not been welcoming to them. In seminary, many of my classmates had not experienced the same sense of belonging in their home churches as I had in mine.

Through these experiences and others, I was forced to face the harsh reality that the community that had been so helpful to me could have done harm to others. This sparked my desire for churches to be communities that welcome and invite, and it deepened my convictions that Jesus’ love is one that says, “You belong.”

This is the foundation of my understanding of God and one of my strongest motivators for being a pastor. Through my study of scripture in seminary and my personal experiences, I have developed a strong belief that God loves all, sent Jesus to demonstrate that love, and now relies on us to spread Jesus’ message of love to the world.

I am called to love those around me and advocate for what is best for them physically, mentally, and spiritually. Matters related to scriptural interpretation, church doctrine, and theology are important for a life of faith and congregational identity, but only in how they might help us better understand, experience, and share God’s love with the world.

While this calling may seem simple in language, it is a challenge in practice because it requires sacrificing our desires, our identities, or even our previous ways of believing and behaving. I believe this is what Jesus meant when he said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Creating spaces of belonging for others often comes with personal sacrifice, but I believe it is the mission to which God has called me.

I hope you will join me in this calling of creating spaces of belonging for others, regardless of the costs.