"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." More than any other identifying factor—ethni
city, nationality, occupation, vocation, gender, generation, history, ideology—we are, together, God’s daughters and sons. We are siblings. The people of Walla Walla University Church are siblings to all who live in our community: College Place, Walla Walla, and the surrounding region. The place of our church informs our purpose: to bless all of God’s children in this valley. We hope to be good brothers and sisters to our geographic family. The people of Walla Walla University Church are also family to Walla Walla University—and especially to the students who study, work, play, and pray in this sacred space. We hope to be good older siblings to the young men and women who seek knowledge and God at this institution of higher education. The people of Walla Walla University Church are also part of a larger family of Seventh-day Adventist Christians around the world. Seventh-day Adventists? It’s all in the name. The seventh-day is a weekly birthday party, since creation, of our arrival. God’s first children were created on the sixth day. And on the seventh God creates the first holiday: Sabbath. A memorial every seven days trumpeting the truth that he is the loving parent of human beings—of every man and woman. Adventist? We hope for the second advent (coming) of Jesus. We look forward to being with Jesus. We long to see him … and soon. We believe he is coming back to this earth: ending what is bad, inaugurating what is good. Forever. The people of Walla Walla University Church are … people. We are broken and bruised, fallen and flawed. But we are also, by no merit of our own, well-loved by God and hopeful that we will love him well. And we are determined to love people well. For we are all children of God.
