I believe that there is one God

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ATTACHMENT A – Christina Jensen Documents Personal Statement of Faith - Christina L. Jensen I believe that there is one God. I believe that this one God has been revealed to us in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. I believe that God the Father is the sole creator of everything imagined and unimaginable - of everything seen and unseen. I believe that this creating God is likened to a parent for all of us. I believe God created all of these things because God is love. God calls us all, first and foremost, to love one another unconditionally, as God first loved us. I believe that God the Son is known to us in the person of Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus was born in seemingly ordinary circumstances to live an extraordinary life. I believe that this man - fully human, fully divine - was born, lived, preached, died, and rose again in order that we might live more fully into the love of God. In a selfless demonstration of God’s love enacted for the world, I believe that Jesus died and rose again to redeem me and all of us from our sins and to grant us life forevermore. We receive this gift of salvation through faith in God through Jesus Christ alone. I believe that the action that Jesus Christ took on our behalf directly enables us to share the love of God with others. I believe that God the Holy Spirit acts as the supporting presence of God. I believe that, even though terrible tragedies and horrendous harms happen, God through the person of the Holy Spirit sustains us with a love that only God could give. I believe that we come to know the persons of God through the Holy Scriptures found in the Bible, which is the inspired and authoritative word of God. I believe that when Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them,” 1 he was speaking about church, and that I am called to be part of the catholic Church, universally proclaiming the love of God in this world and beyond. I believe that through the Scriptures, God has called me to be a bearer of God’s light in this world. I believe that I am called to share the light of the love of God with everyone I meet, and to especially shine that light in times of darkness; to be a beacon of God’s love and light in the times when the shadow of doubt and fear threatens to overcome. I believe that there are two true sacraments through which we can come more closely to knowing the love of God. These two sacraments are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. I believe that through Baptism, we are marked, claimed, and adopted into the family of God’s never-ending love, and that through the Lord’s Supper, we remember that which love did for us, and we are strengthened so that we can go out and share the light and love of God. This I believe. Amen. 1

Matthew 18:20, NRSV

ATTACHMENT A – Christina Jensen Documents (Continued) Christina Louise Jensen – Biographical Statement Hello. My name is Christina Louise Jensen. I was born August 20, 1985 in Big Rapids, Michigan, which is a smallish town in Northern Michigan, about an hour north of Grand Rapids. My earliest memories from childhood are of being at church, or being involved in church in some way, shape, or form, be it choir, Sunday School, or helping my mom (who was the church custodian and Director of Christian Education) clean the building after school every day. That state of being hasn’t really changed any in the last 32 years, as many of my best memories are centered in the church. In my childhood, I was active in choir, church activities, and orchestra. I graduated with honors from Troy High School in 2003, and then went to Alma College to earn my Bachelor’s degree. In college, I was active in choir, orchestra, church, and was a member of the Theta Eta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, the women’s professional music fraternity. With the Alma College Choir, I went on various tours of Michigan, the East Coast, and Scotland. During the two stateside tours, I sang with the choir at Grosse Ile Presbyterian Church (2006) and Royal Oak First Presbyterian Church (2007). In 2004, I became a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, like my family before me. At Alma, I started as a Music Education major, and that lasted until I failed Music Theory twice. It was at that point that God whispered in my ear and told me to instead get a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and go to seminary. I graduated from Alma College in December 2007, and started seminary at San Francisco Theological Seminary in February 2008. I earned my Master of Divinity, and graduated in May 2011. In the church, I have been involved in so many different things. I was in the children’s choir when we lived in Northern Michigan, and then again after we moved to Troy. At Greenfield Presbyterian Church, I went from singing in the children’s choir to singing in the Chancel Choir, to leading and directing the children’s choir. I was also elected, ordained, and installed as the first youth deacon at my church, which was a learning experience for me in that I learned how to better use my gift of compassion and empathy with the shut-in members of our congregation. When I returned from seminary, I joined the Music and Worship Committee at Greenfield, and later served as the chair of the committee, and as an Elder on Session. Other church involvement include the Presbytery of Detroit Alma Youth Mixes through high school and college, Presbyterian Youth Triennium 2001 and 2004, 218th General Assembly in San Jose, COLA Volunteering at the 221st General Assembly in Detroit, assisting the Detroit Presbytery staff with registration at various meetings and conferences, and being a camp counselor for two summers at the Howell Conference and Nature Center. I’ve had several very important role models that have shown me how to minister to others in direct and indirect ways. My mom, who has worked in the Detroit Presbytery office for 24 years, has shown me indirectly how important it is to say “thank you” to the support staff in the church and in denominational offices. My grandma, who was one of the first female ruling elders in the Detroit Presbytery and the presbytery treasurer for 18 years, was a beacon of God’s love and the Holy Spirit’s influence. Numerous ministers,

ATTACHMENT A – Christina Jensen Documents (Continued) multiple professors, and countless congregation members have been role models in ways too many to number. I’m excited to see what God has in store for me next as I continue down the road of my life. Right now, I feel God calling me to small church ministry – a congregation in a small rural town with about 50 farmers and their families sounds like a lot of fun and where God is calling me. Even with that, I’m open to the will of God changing to something different. I like to think that God is in the driver’s seat when it comes to the path my life is on, and that I’m along for the ride, sitting shotgun, talking with God about the route that we’re taking.