Rev. David Lee, who serves the First Church in Nitro, wrote a thought-provoking letter to the Council about our current transition and the future of the church. While it was written in the context of Council business, I think it speaks to the larger church context as well. I asked Dave for permission to share it, which he granted. Please take a few minutes to read his thoughts and respond with your own. May God bless you & yours!
--Peace, Rev. Stephen Baldwin (Moderator, Presbytery of WV)
To
the members of the Council, Presbytery of West Virginia
Grace
and peace,
As we saw on Thursday at the meeting
of Council in Elkins, many of the conversations on our docket overlap. (And
thank you, George, for allowing us to have the free-wheeling conversation that
emerged, rather than constraining it to specific items of business!)
Conversations about ministries become conversations about finances become
conversations about futuring become plans or dreams or questions or... This felt
very healthy and good to me, and I am grateful to have been a part of it today.
It spurred me to thinking. As chair
of the Finance & Development Committee, I have been assigned by the
Presbytery to be part of the Negotiating Team, working with congregations
seeking dismissal from our presbytery and denomination. So far, we have been
working with pastors whom I know fairly well and count as friends. I appreciate
their integrity that insists that they wrestle with hard questions and live out
difficult answers. I also begin to see that it is not those pastors or churches
who are leaving the PC(USA) but it is the PC(USA) who is leaving them.
Your first reaction to that claim
might be denial, or an immediate raising of defenses. Believe me, I
understand... It is a very uncomfortable way to phrase what is already a highly
charged situation. But it is NOT meant as a condemnation, or an attack.
Instead, it is meant as an affirmation - even, dare I say it, a celebration. I
believe that it opens up both possibilities and perspectives that otherwise
would not be available. Please let me try to explain...
The PC(USA) is, by the whole culture
of its ongoing transformation, separating itself from the vast majority of the
Body of Christ, both historically and globally. Supporters of the
transformation would probably call it prophetic; opponents may call it
apostate. I say that it simply is what is. Whether it is foolishness or
fearlessness is something that only God can determine, and God seems to be in
favor of revealing that information over the course of time. So regardless of
personal opinions, theologies and politics, it is the reality - not only of the
present but of the immediate future as well.
I believe that this gives the
PC(USA) and the PWV an opportunity to reinterpret their ministry and role in
the world in a new (renewed?) and powerful way. We are PIONEERS... going where
we (and almost everyone else) have never been before. If there are those who do
not feel the call to leave the settled lands for new frontiers, there is no
reason to punish them for their decision: they would hardly make ideal
companions on the journey if they were coerced into it. Let them stay home with
your blessing - where do you think the settlers who ultimately will follow you
will be coming from?
We are PIONEERS. This means that we
are streamlining almost every aspect of our common life. When it is time to
load the Conestoga, the whole house isn't going to fit. Pioneers pack only what
they need, with the hope and faith that a time will come when they can settle
again, and those creature comforts can be reintroduced into their lives. Until
then, they take on only what is absolutely necessary. This is not the same as survival thinking. In survival thinking, a
person (or church, or presbytery) spares every resource it can in order to
prolong the dying process. In pioneer thinking, a person spares every unneeded resource
while pouring every needed resource on moving forward. In survival thinking,
everyone is a patient - a more or less inactive observer - except for the
caregiver(s). In pioneer thinking, there are no observers: everyone is expected
and required to commit themselves to the forward progress of the 'wagon train'
or caravan. The entire journey is done with the firm expectation that we will
reach a destination, as yet unknown, where we will settle and grow and
flourish.
I don't (usually) pretend to be
omniscient. It may be that the naysayers and settlers are correct, and that the
PC(USA) will wither into obscurity, living on only as a footnote to church
history. But it may well be that they are short-sighted, and that the glory of
the latter temple will indeed be greater than that of the former if we stay the
course, pay the price and commit ourselves whole-heartedly to the task we
believe that we have been given. It may be faithful to hold on to what we have
been given, but it is faith-filled to dare to leave behind what has become cramped
and crowded, where there is no room or freedom to live, love and serve in the
way that we believe God has called us to do.
As we, as a Council and as a
Presbytery, go through this time of transition and cultural transformation, it
is my hope and prayer that we will face the challenges and changes in the
spirit of pioneers: willingly laying aside things that we once cherished in
strong, sure hope of attaining something even more worthwhile. Perhaps we will
have to make some difficult financial choices. Perhaps we will let go of some
things we have done, not because we haven't done them well or seen blessing
from them but because they just won't fit into the wagon. But if we can do this
with the optimism and courage of pioneers, even the hardships become a part of
the story of God's ultimate blessing.
Thanks for letting me think out loud
here. I pray that I haven't offended anyone, and that you will find grace
enough to forgive me if I have.
Dave
Lee
