Reliving What is our CPI?

July 1st, 2025
by Mark Poyner

What Is Our Church Peace Index?
On June 29, 2025, we explored a powerful and pressing question: What is our Church Peace Index—or CPI? Inspired by the Global Peace Index, which ranks countries based on levels of peace, we turned that lens inward—into the heart of our congregation and our call as Christians.
The Global Peace Index assesses nations by looking at crime, political instability, terrorism, and more. Sadly, the United States ranks 132 out of 163 nations. But what if we used a similar framework to measure the peace within our own church? What if our "CPI" evaluated our commitment to grace, unity, service, and love for neighbor?
We grounded our reflection in the Heidelberg Catechism, especially Questions 1, 105, 106, and 107. These remind us that:

We are not our own, but belong to Christ.
True peace begins when we do not belittle, insult, or hate—but instead forgive, serve, and love.
The seeds of murder begin not with violence, but with envy, anger, and indifference.

We asked a deeply spiritual and self-examining question: Who is our neighbor? According to Jesus in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), our neighbor is the one we are least likely to help. That includes:

Refugees and migrants
The homeless
People of color
LGBTQ+ individuals
People with disabilities
Youth in crisis
The incarcerated and formerly incarcerated
The elderly and forgotten

Each of these neighbors is too often “chopped down” by society—and at times, even by the church. But Christ calls us to a radical peace—a peace that binds wounds, not inflicts them; a peace that welcomes, not excludes.
Church peace is not about passive comfort. It is about the costly, Christ-shaped work of justice, mercy, and love. As 1 John 3:18 reminds us, “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
Our growth and revitalization as a church will not come without peace—and peace requires action. It is not optional. It is Gospel.
Let us pursue this peace together.
View the Sermon on our website https://www.whitingcrc.org