The UCC: Reading the Bible

I picked up a pamphlet from my church about reading the Bible and I like its content. I found it again on the website, and I`m going to quote it below (I will add in blue the parts that were in the pamphlet but not the website)

The Bible is central to The United Church of Canada. As a source of wisdom, personal prayer, and devotion, we believe the Bible can bring us closer to God.[It's at once the holy writings of the Christian tradition, with stories of our ancestors in the faith, a guide for our living, and a source of prayers, songs and poems. All of this, yet so much more.] It remains one of our best ways of experiencing God's continuing work of creation and liberation in the world, while offering us forgiveness, healing, and new life in Jesus.

We often refer to a passage as "the Word of God." By this we mean the writer was inspired by God.

Yet we also know the various books that make up the Bible are the stories of two ancient communities trying to be faithful to God under difficult circumstances-ancient Israel and the early Christian movement-and some of what was experienced and written then doesn't fit with today's world. We don't condone slavery, for example, or stone those who commit adultery.

Nevertheless, in its stories and teachings the Bible has a mysterious power to inform our lives[: the story of ancient Israel, a people enslaved, then liberated, who wandered in a wilderness for years, is also the story of our own bondage and alienation. The wisdom of Jesus speaks to us, who are as much in need of healing and liberation today as those he taught and touched 2,000 years ago].

The order of the content is slightly different in the pamphlet as well. If you are interested in reading more about the beliefs of the United Church of Canada, this part of the website 

(http://www.united-church.ca/beliefs/overview) covers baptism, marriage, sacraments, etc.