Someone once asked, "What would New St. Peter's do if it could only do one thing?" The answer was immediate for us…we said we would do Deuteronomy 6:4-6. ("Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.)  There is a lifetime of ministry in that short passage. Soon we realized that Colossians 1:28,29 (Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me) were the perfect complement to Deuteronomy 6, and our specific call to ministry was born. Little by little these two passages became more simple and clear for us until finally the three main verbs emerged as shorthand – Hear, Love, Proclaim. This is what ministry consists of at New St. Peter’s in an endless cycle.

In every context and setting (sitting, walking, beginning the day or ending it, doing, thinking, coming home or going out) in realistic conditions (diligence, toil and struggle) we are growing in jealous love for the one true God and moving toward maturity in Christ with these three simple actions – Hear, Love, Proclaim. This is what we are called to, and what we practice as a body.