Over the past few weeks I have been discussing the very real possibility of a significant split in the Presbyterian Church (USA) that will likely occur sometime after the 2012 General Assembly in early July. We have discussed why some want to leave and why some want to stay. For the most part I have just reported the facts, albeit from my perspective. Now I want to give you the reasons that, regardless of what some of my friends in the ministry and their congregations may decide to do after the General Assembly, I am staying put.Although I do not know what the distant future holds, I am staying in the Presbyterian Church (USA) because...
• as I have mentioned before, I have been raised, called, and nurtured by PC(USA) congregations and institutions.
• on a hot Sunday in July, 2006, standing in front of the congregation of the First United Presbyterian Church of Guthrie, Oklahoma, I took an ordination vow that I would, “be governed by our church’s polity, and will… abide by its discipline.”
• God called me to serve as the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Washington Court House, Ohio and this church is in the PC(USA). If I did feel the need to leave the PC(USA) I would either have to leave this congregation or talk this congregation into leaving. I am unwilling to do either one of those things.
• I am much more invested in and concerned with how the Triune God is working through the saints of FPC-WCH than the Presbyterian Church (USA) as a denomination.
• although I feel that there are a lot of PC(USA) pastors and congregations that disregard the constitution of our church, which is made up of the Book of Confessions and Book of Order, in matters of theology, I believe that the theology that is recorded in our constitution is good, faithful, biblical theology.
• I am a moderate. Right now in the PC(USA) I’m in the middle, which often means that I get hit from both sides or ignored by both
sides as they yell at each other or pray for each other's souls. If a lot of the conservatives leave then I’ll probably end up being on the conservative end of what’s left. But if I was to go then I’d be on the liberal side of the new denomination. Like the dog in the photo, I'm stuck in the middle.• cowardly or not, I do not want to forfeit the pension years I’ve built up in the PC(USA) to start all over again in another denomination.
• although sometimes it is nice to be among “like minded” Christians, which is what the Fellowship of Presbyterians and the denomination they are forming called the Evangelical Covenant Order is supposed to be, most of the time I like being a part of a diverse group of Christians, especially when that diverse group of Christians is open to my views as well.
• although I really do agree with most of the Fellowship’s observations of the PC(USA), my views on many of those issues are unresolved so I have neither the motivation nor the conviction to leave because of those issues.
• The Presbyterian Church (USA) plays a very important, and often neglected, role in the worldwide church as a voice of Christian social justice on behalf of the oppressed and ignored. While unlike some of my colleagues in the PC(USA) I do not believe that social justice is the gospel of Jesus Christ (John 3:16), I do believe it is a natural fruit of the gospel. Social action in the name of Jesus Christ is very important to me, and the PC(USA) does that well.
In Acts 15:36-41 we read that Paul and Barnabas had a dramatic disagreement about whether or not Barnabas’s cousin (Colossians 4:10), John Mark, could accompany them on a trip to check on all the congregations they had started in their ministry together. Apparently, John Mark had bailed on them at some point on a previous journey.
Paul had no interest in taking someone who had deserted them before. Barnabas wanted to leave the past in the past and take John Mark with them again, give him a second chance. Plus, he was family. Paul refused, so "the disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out.” So who was right? The one who has come to be called Saint Paul or the one who has come to be called Saint Barnabas? Based on a brief mention in Colossians, it appears that eventually Paul and John Mark may have reconciled. Whether or not that was the case, in Acts 15 we can see that disagreements, even to the point of separation, are nothing new within the Christian Church, having been around since the beginning. Although the Church is blessed by Jesus Christ, the Church is still made up of human beings and human beings won't always agree or get along. Sometimes, as sad as it may be, there comes a point when going our separate ways is the better of two bad options: complete separation or an ugly stalemate of disagreement. Like some marriages in which “irreconcilable differences” simply cannot be overcome, “divorce” may be necessary for either party to be able to go on with life. That seems, to me, to be what is happening within the Presbyterian Church (USA). It does no good for us to force churches to stay or to make it terribly difficult for them to leave. We also should never say, “Good riddance.” Instead we should say, “Godspeed, brothers and sisters. We will pray that God will bless your way of doing things, and perhaps you can find it in your hearts to pray that God will bless our way of doing things.” I hope that is how Paul and Barnabas handled it. I hope that's how we handle it too.
While I am in Pittsburgh for a couple of days during General Assembly, July 3-4, I have registered to attend the Fellowship of Presbyterians breakfast because I am interested in what these friends of mine have to say and I would like to learn from them and be blessed by their table fellowship, even if I do not wish to leave the PC(USA) as many of them do.
I think it could be helpful if, after Dick and Charlotte return from General Assembly, we invite them to lead us in an evening of conversation about General Assembly and other issues of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for any of us who are interested in discussing it. I would, of course, like to be involved in the leadership of that discussion as well. I've been told that this congregation has never discussed any of these things. Maybe that's for the best, maybe not.
Have a wonderful week, remembering that you are created in God's image... and so is everybody else.
Peace,
Everett
