| A bold church unafraid: Fellowship casts vision |
| Written by Leslie Scanlon, Outlook national reporter | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 19 January 2012 23:50 | ||||||||||||||||||
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ORLANDO, Fla. – All through the day on Jan. 19, John Ortberg and others at the Fellowship of Presbyterians Covenanting Conference cast a vision. It was of a bold church unafraid to take risks; one that makes disciples; one that takes the best of Presbyterian history and tradition and points it in new directions. “I’m not really sure we have really dreamed for a long time,” said Ortberg, an author and pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California. “I think God is calling us to dream.” On the second day of their Jan. 18-20 conference in Orlando, Fellowship leaders began to flesh out the details of their proposals for a new denomination, which they are calling the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (using the acronym ECO). The idea, Fellowship leaders said, is to create an ecosystem of creative ministry that’s scripturally based and mutually accountable. How many congregations will leave the Presbyterian Church for the new denomination remains to be seen. In a straw poll taken of those registered for the conference, nearly 60 percent of the 2,100 attending said they were coming mostly to discern what to do next, said John Crosby, pastor of Christ Presbyterian church in Edina, Minn., and one of the Fellowship’s leaders. About 20 percent said they intend to leave the PC(USA) to join the Evangelical Covenant Order, Crosby said in an interview Jan. 19, and about 7 percent want some kind of union relationship with both the PC(USA) and the new denomination. About 15 percent want to join the Fellowship while remaining in the PC(USA), Crosby said. Others may take time to decide what to do – with some predicting that the numbers in the new denomination may grow over time, particularly if the General Assembly of the PC(USA) makes a move at some point to allow its clergy to perform same-gender marriages. Crosby described the Fellowship as a big umbrella, with many congregations and individuals staying in the PC(USA) but with a “sliver” outside in the Evangelical Covenant Order. Crosby also stressed that in creating a new denomination, the idea is not “to get the pure folks away from the impure folks” or to act out of anger. “When organizations are started by angry people, they remain angry,” he said. Jim Singleton, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, said on Nov. 19 that the Fellowship will stay mostly in the PC(USA) and “ECO will step just barely outside of it” and “we hope the two will always be … very compatible and ever-related.” At this Covenanting Conference, the new denomination has essentially already been created – though not through a vote of those attending. The Fellowship released revised polity and theology documents that are part of the new denomination’s constitution, and a vote by the Fellowship’s board of directors to approve those constitutional documents has essentially put the new denomination into place, said Paul Detterman, an administrative consultant for the Fellowship. Ortberg preached during morning worship Jan. 18 – laying out a vision for the more nuts-and-bolts presentations to come. Ortberg, who grew up a Baptist, said he imagined when he was young “that Presbyterians sat in the basement and smoked cigarettes and thought of ways to desecrate the gospel.” As his ministry evolved, however, and he came to pastor a Presbyterian church, Ortberg said he grew to appreciate much about Presbyterianism, including a commitment to social justice, egalitarian ministry and a thoughtful, informed faith. Ortberg unscrolled a long list of Presbyterians he’s come to admire, both living and dead – pastors, writers, theologians, professors. “They love Jesus and they were Christ-centered and they loved the life of the mind and they read great books,” he said. They were globally-aware and they weren’t fundamentalists, he said, and “I loved that . . . What a precious legacy we have been given. When I discovered it, I felt I had come home.” But now, he said, in part because the decline of mainline denominations and because of internal strife, that legacy is dying. Ortberg said when he asked young Presbyterian pastors earlier this week how many considered bold, creative, innovative faith to be a hallmark of Presbyterian life these days, “no hands went up. That’s really serious and tragic business.” So Ortberg spoke of his dream – of a movement of “spirit-led, God-centered churches” committed to justice, evangelism and spiritual formation; where people are willing to take risks in ministry; where the gifts of men and women are equally valued; where denominational meetings “never waste anybody’s time.” In that kind of ecosystem, “our job is to put hell out of business, and that’s why Jesus went to the cross on a Friday,” he said. “I have zero desire to be part of a church that is OK with doing OK while hell is winning.” Ortberg described the Fellowship and the new denomination as “a movement that is just waiting to happen.” And Crosby said he hopes that those considering becoming involved will lean forward “far enough that you are gulping. This is risky.” Look at the lessons of the Bible, Ortberg said. “When in the Bible did God ever ask someone to take on an easy task?” he asked – certainly not Noah or Abraham. “What gives us peace,” Ortberg said, “is God saying, `I will be with you.’ . . . There is uncertainty. There is risk. It has always been that way.” Your Responses (10)
Reid Stewart (Elder)
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Fountain Inn, SC Mr. Paine, I must respectfully point out to you that this is much more that just splitting up the PC(USA). |
p.w. gregory
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lambertville, nj Let's put a name to where the church is going, and what Orlando in many ways was about. Congregationalism. I do not see a group of people who yearn for the removal of one yoke of submission to a denomination which they feel is at best misguided, at worst apostate, only to replace that with a whole new yoke full of things yet to be decided and full doctrinal things to assend too. Nor will any ever agree to a formal structure that has one hint of property in trust or per capitia. So how does the new enity funciton? It does not is the simple answer. There is another option on the table to consider which the constitution is really silent on. Disengagement from the process, passive resistence, non participation with the majority whom one feels is not responsive to matters of what can be defined as justice. Or depriving the majority the economic means or cooperation to function. Read Dr. King, Mandella on that matter. Both civil and church case law has yet to be written on the matters of freedom of religion and freedom of association as applied to this matter, and whether a demonination can force such through property, money, or even participation in the assemblies of said church. A pastor or church does not send anybody to Presbytery for thee, four years. Sooner or later someone will ask why? And it is in the response that new ground will be plowed. The new post Orlando enity can take its time, and more time, as much time as it wants to study and pray, and maybe meet some more, but time and history will move along, eventually so will the people, with or without anybody's permission. What did they sing in the "Lion King", the circle of life. |
Randy Bare
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West Palm Beach FL With respect, as one who attended the conference in Orlando, I think what is happening is that congregations and ruling and teaching elders are remaining faithful to their ordination vows. They are in a discernment process which is governed by the section of our Book of Order which states the three options for when you disagree with the majority. You can "actively concur, passively submit or peaceably withdraw." I think this is a time when God is calling on all Presbyterians to allow the time necessary for people to make one of those three choices. The world is watching how Christian brothers and sisters handle disagreements. Let us model the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit. When this process of discernment ends, we will all still be in the catholic church and in the World Communion of Reformed Churches, WCRC. May God's grace be in abundance during this time. |
Celia Stone
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Farmville, NC One thing that impressed me the most about The Fellowship of Presbyterians and this gathering in Orlando was how much it was stressed that this was NOT about the "pure" leaving the "impure" nor was it about being angry. Everything that I heard was well-studied, well-thought-out, gracious, surprisingly positive, and said with humility. The issues of the history of splinters in the Presbyterian Church were not ignored. People were encouraged to discern what was best for their particular congregations and to avoid at all costs any splitting of a church or causing division there. So much of the information was steeped in history, that I left committed to reading through our Book of Confessions and educating the children in our church about the Westminster Shorter Catechism. I appreciated the support and encouragement for those of us who desire to serve joyfully within the PCUSA, building flourishing congregations that make disciples for Jesus Christ. |
Tom Eggebeen
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Los Angeles, CA Ah, the fatal Presbyterian flaw emerges once again, full-blown - "We can do it better without you!" Our history is a one of splinters ... we have to ask if the world is substantially better, or even a little better, because of our cat-fighting and our efforts to be more "evangelical" or "orthodox" than you are. It's a question that can't be answered, of course, because we don't have access to alternative universes; all we have is the one in which we currently live. Though it is my suspicion that our "we can do it better without you" has resulted in less good and more theological pride, ecclesiastical ingrownness, accompanied by "bold" rhetoric painfully empty of meaning. Presbyterians, like moths drawn to the fire, are incurably romantic about the possibility of finding the true truth, the real real, and the real and true church. I wish them well with "God's dream," but like a wick without a firecracker, it'll burn bright and hot for awhile and then join all the other splinter groups in a sputtering fizzle. They'll spend a lot of patting themselves on the back, but the world will move on, paying little attention to another t-pot tempest. And so it goes, with the Presbyterian flaw. |
L. Lovell-Martin
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Miami Gardens, FL Very well written article. Also, I must agree with the response by J. Heckerman. I hope that the presbyteries and their Committees on Preparation for Ministry will learn from this experience. I am now convinced, more than ever, that our PCUSA seminaries need to do a more effective job of embedding in their course curricula what the Presbyterian Church's witness to Christ is all about. |
Tom Paine
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Metairie, LA [Lest anyone misunderstand, I am being sarcastic about the positive spin being put on dividing up the PC(USA).] |
J. Heckerman
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Fuquau-Varina, NC While there are certainly long-standing differences in biblical interpretation, theology and societal understandings within our church...many left over from many having stayed in only to keep their properties at the PCUS - UPCUSA reunion...I would like to suggest that this article highlights another problem. Not too many years ago Presbyteries were disinclined to approves pastoral calls for those not imbued with a loyalty to our denomination and a true understanding and support of its way of doing church through having been educated in one of our own seminaries. Some presbyteries required coursework at one of those institutions for candidates educated elsewhere seeking ordination or wishing to be received into membership and accepting calls. As this tradition faded, well-meaning individuals who just simply didn't have a feel for what we are about have gained some prominence as pastors. Now some of them are discontent and seek to leave. I wish them well but hope that we have learned by the experience. |
Tom Paine
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Metairie, LA Let's get a divorce! It's nothing about you honey. I'm not doing this because I am angry or somehow you are more impure from me. I just think my future will be more honest and exciting without you. I can be bolder and more creative without I hope you understand. |
