Melissa Florer-Bixler is correct to distinguish between creeds as binding statements of truth for all time versus Confessions of Faith as snapshots of beliefs at a particular time (“Confessional or creedal?” March 4). But, inevitably, a Confession ends up functioning as a creed. The current example is the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, whose acceptance was accompanied by promises that it would not be used to exclude but, in fact, has served to exclude LGBTQ people. Avoiding that shift entirely is not possible, but it might be minimized. I suggest starting a Confession with a statement of the Gospels’ story of Jesus. Then every article that follows becomes an application of that story as an indication of where the church should be going. This reorients the Confession from a past to a future outlook. Since each article would be an application of the story of Jesus, it would be evident that, rather than being absolute truth, these applications are always in process and reflect the contemporary context.

J. Denny Weaver, Madison, Wis.