Statement of Belief

To all who may read this Statement of Belief,

Please find below a list of beliefs that Roots: Globalscope Edinburgh holds. This document is presented to you with the knowledge that words will always fall short in attempting to express the beautiful mystery that is the existence of God. The statements below outline beliefs developed from experiencing the boundless depths of the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Because of the nature of the job, everyone who wants to work for Roots must agree to the following statements of belief. Roots does not, however, require students who choose to participate in the community to agree to any particular set of beliefs. No Roots participant should feel pressured to engage with faith topics beyond their comfort and interest levels, though the opportunity is always available. 

The Statement of Belief of Roots: Globalscope Edinburgh expressed through the lens of the “roots of Roots” – the five foundational concepts that underpin all of what Roots is and does.

• Faith 
  • We believe that God exists and has always existed. 
  • We believe that throughout time, people have experienced God in three forms – Creator God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. 
  • We believe that the Bible is a valuable collection of writings by humans experiencing, uncovering, and attempting to explain who God is and how God interacts with the world. 

• Love 
  • We believe that God loves and is gracious. God welcomes, accepts, and celebrates everyone as the unique person they are and are becoming.
  • We believe that the story of the life of Jesus is powerful and compelling. Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection are all significant and Jesus’s story has the power to transform lives.
  • Because of God’s nature, demonstrated through the ongoing story of Jesus, everyone is welcomed into a relationship with God marked by unconditional love.

• Grace
  • We believe that God is always near, but that sometimes our inability to see or understand makes us feel that isn’t true.  God is always around us though, in the big and the small, and we need only to continually try to notice where God’s presence is evident in the world. 
  • We believe that God continually welcomes all of us and encourages us to emulate God’s welcome to make our literal and figurative tables wider.

• Hope
  • We believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, is in the process of redeeming the world and that we are empowered to be co-workers in that restoration.
  • We believe that love is an action, and that hope sustains.

• Community
  • We believe that people are relational beings, that God loves the whole world and desires a relationship with everyone. It is through God’s grace that is possible.
  • We believe that the church is not a building, but a community of people loving, caring, and sharing life together. Faith is not solely an individual activity but is meant to also be acted out in community with others.