Which is more important for a church, belief or welcome? Perhaps that is like asking which wing of the airplane is more important. They are both important, but in some ways, they are the same thing, for the extravagant welcome into God’s loving embrace is a church’s theology.

Everything in the Bible, from the giving of the law to admonitions about welcoming strangers, even — and especially — salvation itself, is a function of God’s hospitable nature. Moreover, the primary missional directive for those who have received God’s welcome is to extend it to others and make known the welcome of God.

Each Friday in The Christian Citizen, we publish a Religion News Roundup with summaries of religion news stories and links for those who want to read more.

We are created to create. To contribute creatively and meaningfully to this world. May we be good stewards of the image of God in our lives, bringing order from chaos in our own unique ways.

Forty-seven years before the U.S. Congress voted to rescind funding for international aid, a Sunday school teacher in Washington, D.C., took time from a Bible lesson to share his thoughts on the humanitarian role and responsibility of the United States.