Thursday, March 1, 2007
Large Churches Pay Per Capita in 2006
I have been carefully studying our Presbytery’s financial data for 2006. I discovered a remarkable bit of financial good news which I would like to share. Our Presbytery has twelve churches with a Per Capita assessment greater that $10,000. These are, of course, the largest churches in our Presbytery. All of these congregations have contributed 100% of their Per Capita assessment in 2006. This is remarkable good news and a sure indication of the vitality of the Presbytery of Carlisle. May all glory and praise be to God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Reflections on Ash Wednesday
Reflections on Ash Wednesday
Market Square Church
Pastors Jim Brown and Kelly Wiant-Thralls
Leaving our sons at home to do their homework, my wife Kris and I had a date of sorts as we went to Ash Wednesday worship service together at our Market Square Church. I was seeking a Taize Service, and Market Square does it beautifully. Their musical group was particularly eclectic and excellent: a dulcimer, harp, piano, flute and trombone. It seemed to me, at first thought, to be a strange combination of instruments, but together they created a fabulous foundation for my prayers and the quiet chanting of the Taize music. Market Square Church, in my experience, does everything with careful planning and a precise eye for detail in their worship. This matches my personality very well, with my penchant for making lists, checking details, and worrying about plans.
What is it about Taize that is so soothing and so calm? Taize is particularly suited, in my mind, for evening worship, when a long work day is coming to an end, and a quiet tiredness fills me. Since I am not musical and do not much enjoy singing; I am usually a quiet listener to the rhythms and simple lyrics of the Taize songs. But their simplicity and the repetition are always significant and meaningful for me. In the massive space of Market Square’s sanctuary it was very easy for me to settle into myself, not affected by others around me, to be simply still in my soul.
Then a very discordant note rang in my heart. The pastors introduced and invited everyone to share in the imposition on ashes. I remembered as I sat quietly in the pew that I have never done that before. I know and I appreciate the theological symbolism of Ash Wednesday. The deep, penitential themes of Psalm 51 are important to me. But in all my years of serving as a pastor I never actually expressed the ritual of the imposition of ashes. Growing up in a Presbyterian Church, I remember that we had special Lenten services and programs every Wednesday through the season of Lent, including Ash Wednesday. But I am sure the little Presbyterian congregation where I was raised never expressed the imposition of ashes. I have in all the churches I served created and led services of worship on Ash Wednesday. Often these services were very meaningful and important to the congregation. But I structured my Ash Wednesday services as Services of Evening Prayer; returning to the many biblical texts that call us to repentance. But never have I expressed the ritual of the imposition of ashes. Sitting very quiet and still in the Market Square sanctuary I realized deep within myself that I did not want to begin. It was very important for me to worship on Ash Wednesday; the meaning and symbolism of the season of Lent is very meaningful to me; I fully understand and appreciate the symbolism of the ashes. But I did not want to share in the ritual. I sat quietly in prayer while the congregation slowly, reverently processed forward for their ashes.
I felt odd leaving the worship service that evening. I was, as far as I could tell, the only one unmarked by the ashes. Who am I to reject such a deep and meaningful ritual? I have pondered this since that evening. There are lots of different themes weaving together as I come up with an answer. Theologically, one of my responses has to do with the sacraments. I believe the sacraments are vitally important in the church, and neglected. With our reluctance to celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week we neglect its importance and power in the life of the church. So on Ash Wednesday it is theologically frustrating to me that we reach for an ancient ritual of the church in the imposition of the ashes but we do not express our most powerful, common and ordinary sacrament in the Lord’s Supper. Spiritually, I know how I felt that evening sitting through that Taize worship. I was comfortable and quiet in myself, moved into a time of personal confession and prayer. I simply did not feel like getting up and walking forward for the ashes. That simple change would have spoiled my sense of prayer. And emotionally I know that the great Presbyterian response was pounding in my brain; the response that we hear over and over in our churches; the response that in any other context will annoy me. But there I was sitting quietly in Ash Wednesday worship but rejecting the imposition of the ashes because that is not the way I have always done it.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. (Psalm 51: 1-6).
Market Square Church
Pastors Jim Brown and Kelly Wiant-Thralls
Leaving our sons at home to do their homework, my wife Kris and I had a date of sorts as we went to Ash Wednesday worship service together at our Market Square Church. I was seeking a Taize Service, and Market Square does it beautifully. Their musical group was particularly eclectic and excellent: a dulcimer, harp, piano, flute and trombone. It seemed to me, at first thought, to be a strange combination of instruments, but together they created a fabulous foundation for my prayers and the quiet chanting of the Taize music. Market Square Church, in my experience, does everything with careful planning and a precise eye for detail in their worship. This matches my personality very well, with my penchant for making lists, checking details, and worrying about plans.
What is it about Taize that is so soothing and so calm? Taize is particularly suited, in my mind, for evening worship, when a long work day is coming to an end, and a quiet tiredness fills me. Since I am not musical and do not much enjoy singing; I am usually a quiet listener to the rhythms and simple lyrics of the Taize songs. But their simplicity and the repetition are always significant and meaningful for me. In the massive space of Market Square’s sanctuary it was very easy for me to settle into myself, not affected by others around me, to be simply still in my soul.
Then a very discordant note rang in my heart. The pastors introduced and invited everyone to share in the imposition on ashes. I remembered as I sat quietly in the pew that I have never done that before. I know and I appreciate the theological symbolism of Ash Wednesday. The deep, penitential themes of Psalm 51 are important to me. But in all my years of serving as a pastor I never actually expressed the ritual of the imposition of ashes. Growing up in a Presbyterian Church, I remember that we had special Lenten services and programs every Wednesday through the season of Lent, including Ash Wednesday. But I am sure the little Presbyterian congregation where I was raised never expressed the imposition of ashes. I have in all the churches I served created and led services of worship on Ash Wednesday. Often these services were very meaningful and important to the congregation. But I structured my Ash Wednesday services as Services of Evening Prayer; returning to the many biblical texts that call us to repentance. But never have I expressed the ritual of the imposition of ashes. Sitting very quiet and still in the Market Square sanctuary I realized deep within myself that I did not want to begin. It was very important for me to worship on Ash Wednesday; the meaning and symbolism of the season of Lent is very meaningful to me; I fully understand and appreciate the symbolism of the ashes. But I did not want to share in the ritual. I sat quietly in prayer while the congregation slowly, reverently processed forward for their ashes.
I felt odd leaving the worship service that evening. I was, as far as I could tell, the only one unmarked by the ashes. Who am I to reject such a deep and meaningful ritual? I have pondered this since that evening. There are lots of different themes weaving together as I come up with an answer. Theologically, one of my responses has to do with the sacraments. I believe the sacraments are vitally important in the church, and neglected. With our reluctance to celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week we neglect its importance and power in the life of the church. So on Ash Wednesday it is theologically frustrating to me that we reach for an ancient ritual of the church in the imposition of the ashes but we do not express our most powerful, common and ordinary sacrament in the Lord’s Supper. Spiritually, I know how I felt that evening sitting through that Taize worship. I was comfortable and quiet in myself, moved into a time of personal confession and prayer. I simply did not feel like getting up and walking forward for the ashes. That simple change would have spoiled my sense of prayer. And emotionally I know that the great Presbyterian response was pounding in my brain; the response that we hear over and over in our churches; the response that in any other context will annoy me. But there I was sitting quietly in Ash Wednesday worship but rejecting the imposition of the ashes because that is not the way I have always done it.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. (Psalm 51: 1-6).
Monday, February 26, 2007
Mercersburg
Mercersburg, officially known at the Presbyterian Church of the Upper West Conococheague.
Only a block south of the town square in Mercersburg you will find our Presbyterian Church. It is a classic, old, stone sanctuary with a heritage going back to the 1730s. The gorgeous sanctuary, with its exquisite oak woodwork, creates a holy place for worship. This is a family church, where everyone knows everyone and a deep sense of caring and friendship is always present when the congregation gathers. The numbers are small; less than 40 people gathered for worship this snowy, winter Sunday. Mercersburg is now a church in transition with a Pulpit Nominating Committee elected and beginning their work to call a new pastor. There is a stellar group of leaders who divide up the responsibilities of the session, the trustees, and the new PNC. I am motivated and encouraged by these strong, committed lay leaders who will persevere and continue the heritage of faithfulness which has been passed down to them. Heather Sigler and I were there for the first expression of our Committee on Ministry’s new Congregational Vision Day curriculum.
Our Committee on Ministry and our Strengthening Our Congregations Committee created together a special taskforce to look at the question of mission study curriculum and long range planning for congregations. The first step in our taskforce’s work was the creation of a new Congregational Vision Day curriculum which has the specific purpose of working with congregations to help them quickly gather the information and data necessary to write their Church Information Form. We are very grateful to the Presbytery of Washington for allowing us to adopt and adapt the one day, mission study curriculum they created and have used successfully. Our new Congregational Vision Day curriculum is a comprehensive, one day mission study process which will provide a wealth of data for a PNC to write the five narrative questions in the Church Information Form. This Vision Day is simply that: one day. With leadership provided by Heather and me, the congregation gathered at 9:00 a.m. this Sunday morning to begin the process. The morning session is spent working through several creative activities which together grasp the mission priorities of the congregation. We then moved into worship together. In Mercersburg, the 25 people who gathered for our Vision Day work made up most of the worshipping congregation. After worship, we moved immediately back into our Vision Day work around lunch. The session at Mercersburg had made arrangements for a marvelous catered lunch which helped get our afternoon session started. The Vision Day is scheduled to finish at 3:30 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, a snowstorm today forced us to cut our day short and finish after lunch. Despite our shortened day, I am gratified that a priority of being more actively committed in mission and outreach clearly emerged from the group’s conversation and will inform their Church Information Form.
I am very grateful to the Mercersburg congregation for their willingness to work with us as we continue to write, revise and polish our new Congregational Vision Day curriculum. The leaders at Mercersburg – session and PNC - were very helpful in both helping us prepare for our time together and evaluating and improving our process. With gratitude to the Mercersburg folks – who did it first – we now have a resource which will help Pulpit Nominating Committees quickly gather data and information to write their Church Information Form and begin their pastoral search. I believe this is an important step in our effort to support and encourage the ministry of our congregations.
Only a block south of the town square in Mercersburg you will find our Presbyterian Church. It is a classic, old, stone sanctuary with a heritage going back to the 1730s. The gorgeous sanctuary, with its exquisite oak woodwork, creates a holy place for worship. This is a family church, where everyone knows everyone and a deep sense of caring and friendship is always present when the congregation gathers. The numbers are small; less than 40 people gathered for worship this snowy, winter Sunday. Mercersburg is now a church in transition with a Pulpit Nominating Committee elected and beginning their work to call a new pastor. There is a stellar group of leaders who divide up the responsibilities of the session, the trustees, and the new PNC. I am motivated and encouraged by these strong, committed lay leaders who will persevere and continue the heritage of faithfulness which has been passed down to them. Heather Sigler and I were there for the first expression of our Committee on Ministry’s new Congregational Vision Day curriculum.
Our Committee on Ministry and our Strengthening Our Congregations Committee created together a special taskforce to look at the question of mission study curriculum and long range planning for congregations. The first step in our taskforce’s work was the creation of a new Congregational Vision Day curriculum which has the specific purpose of working with congregations to help them quickly gather the information and data necessary to write their Church Information Form. We are very grateful to the Presbytery of Washington for allowing us to adopt and adapt the one day, mission study curriculum they created and have used successfully. Our new Congregational Vision Day curriculum is a comprehensive, one day mission study process which will provide a wealth of data for a PNC to write the five narrative questions in the Church Information Form. This Vision Day is simply that: one day. With leadership provided by Heather and me, the congregation gathered at 9:00 a.m. this Sunday morning to begin the process. The morning session is spent working through several creative activities which together grasp the mission priorities of the congregation. We then moved into worship together. In Mercersburg, the 25 people who gathered for our Vision Day work made up most of the worshipping congregation. After worship, we moved immediately back into our Vision Day work around lunch. The session at Mercersburg had made arrangements for a marvelous catered lunch which helped get our afternoon session started. The Vision Day is scheduled to finish at 3:30 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, a snowstorm today forced us to cut our day short and finish after lunch. Despite our shortened day, I am gratified that a priority of being more actively committed in mission and outreach clearly emerged from the group’s conversation and will inform their Church Information Form.
I am very grateful to the Mercersburg congregation for their willingness to work with us as we continue to write, revise and polish our new Congregational Vision Day curriculum. The leaders at Mercersburg – session and PNC - were very helpful in both helping us prepare for our time together and evaluating and improving our process. With gratitude to the Mercersburg folks – who did it first – we now have a resource which will help Pulpit Nominating Committees quickly gather data and information to write their Church Information Form and begin their pastoral search. I believe this is an important step in our effort to support and encourage the ministry of our congregations.
Trinity Youth Conference
Trinity Youth Conference
Note: This essay was inspired by my visit to Trinity Youth Conference last summer.
Not far from the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Bedford exit, a driveway drops down a very steep hill, comes around a sharp turn and a beautiful, little valley opens up. It is an exquisitely beautiful spot in the hills of Pennsylvania surrounded all the way around by our steep, tree-covered Laurel Highland Mountains. This gorgeous valley is Camp Living Waters, owned by the United Church of Christ, and for many years the site of our Trinity Youth Conference. TYC, as its names implies, is one of the programs of our Synod of the Trinity from back in the days when our Synod was in the program business, an era that has since passed.
Jason Best, an energetic cheerleader and organizer for TYC, invited me to visit. This was convenient for me since I simply dropped in at the camp for a Thursday evening when I was running the Turnpike to Pittsburgh to be home. I arrived in time for dinner and was delighted to join a dining hall full of teenagers for their meal. Between being very involved in youth groups as a kid and always being a pastor with a focus on youth ministry, I have eaten my fair share of camp dinners, in camp dining halls, with teenagers. I love it. I love teenagers and love to be around them. I love their energy and creativity, their unlimited enthusiasm and bold, outlandish convictions. I love every flavor of guitar music. I love to talk with teenagers about politics and religion, the Bible and American culture. I like to argue with them by saying crazy things like, "I think tattoos are stupid and should be forbidden. That there is never a need for anyone to see anyone else’s underwear in public, and that all the boys should pull up their pants up and buy belts." Since I was with a group of strangers at TYC none of those topics came up. Actually, around our dinner table we talked about the Church, and several at table with me were very interested in my new job. I was impressed.
During dinner I remember pausing, sitting back in my chair, and just listening to the room for a moment. It felt different. It felt very different. I have been with large groups of teenagers many, many times. There is always loud, boisterous commotion, typically a threatened (seldom real) food fight, always a high energy of intimacy, fighting, teasing, complaining, love, disrespect and a generally disgraceful level of etiquette. Teenagers! Everyone knows what that means. I love it. But at dinner at TYC it was different. In fact, this was like a dining hall full of adults. The conversations were hushed and polite. Now I was really paying attention. There was a much, much higher level of politeness, courtesy, and maturity in this place. Many of them came and introduced themselves to me and welcomed me BEFORE I was introduced, and my esteemed position as Executive Presbyter explained. Wait a minute! These are not your ordinary teenagers. I filed the thought away, finished dinner and was invited to stay for their evening worship service.
And everything became very clear to me during worship. Worship at TYC that evening was deeply authentic, genuine and meaningful. I was very touched. These teenagers wanted to worship God. They were all gathered, and politely waiting, long before the sound system was prepared. Their singing was glorious. Everyone was seriously engaged with the sermon. The sermon was excellent, biblical, long, full, complete and sophisticated. The touches of creativity in worship with a shared prayer time and an innovative statement of faith were brilliant. As a personal conviction of my own understanding of ministry, I never hug teenagers. But when I turned during this worship service to shake hands and pass the peace of Christ, I was gently told, "We hug here." Indeed, the Passing of the Peace was an extended, very devout time of hugging. I think I was hugged thirty times!
I chatted with Charlie Best after worship. I told him I perceived a remarkable spirit and a very rich, spiritual maturity here. I asked how that happens. He said, "I’m not sure. But over the years of this Conference, some how, the expectations of what we do here together have risen very, very high. That seems to be the way everyone acts." Trinity Youth Conference is an extraordinary event which attracts some of the most extraordinary, gifted, devout, and intelligent teenagers I have ever seen all together in one place. Thanks be to God!
P.S. Because of the significant restructuring of the Synod of the Trinity, funding will no longer be available for programs like Trinity Youth Conference. Its funding is being gradually cut back and will be eliminated in time. For this program to continue, it will be necessary for congregations to establish and maintain it as part of their congregation’s youth ministry.
Note: This essay was inspired by my visit to Trinity Youth Conference last summer.
Not far from the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Bedford exit, a driveway drops down a very steep hill, comes around a sharp turn and a beautiful, little valley opens up. It is an exquisitely beautiful spot in the hills of Pennsylvania surrounded all the way around by our steep, tree-covered Laurel Highland Mountains. This gorgeous valley is Camp Living Waters, owned by the United Church of Christ, and for many years the site of our Trinity Youth Conference. TYC, as its names implies, is one of the programs of our Synod of the Trinity from back in the days when our Synod was in the program business, an era that has since passed.
Jason Best, an energetic cheerleader and organizer for TYC, invited me to visit. This was convenient for me since I simply dropped in at the camp for a Thursday evening when I was running the Turnpike to Pittsburgh to be home. I arrived in time for dinner and was delighted to join a dining hall full of teenagers for their meal. Between being very involved in youth groups as a kid and always being a pastor with a focus on youth ministry, I have eaten my fair share of camp dinners, in camp dining halls, with teenagers. I love it. I love teenagers and love to be around them. I love their energy and creativity, their unlimited enthusiasm and bold, outlandish convictions. I love every flavor of guitar music. I love to talk with teenagers about politics and religion, the Bible and American culture. I like to argue with them by saying crazy things like, "I think tattoos are stupid and should be forbidden. That there is never a need for anyone to see anyone else’s underwear in public, and that all the boys should pull up their pants up and buy belts." Since I was with a group of strangers at TYC none of those topics came up. Actually, around our dinner table we talked about the Church, and several at table with me were very interested in my new job. I was impressed.
During dinner I remember pausing, sitting back in my chair, and just listening to the room for a moment. It felt different. It felt very different. I have been with large groups of teenagers many, many times. There is always loud, boisterous commotion, typically a threatened (seldom real) food fight, always a high energy of intimacy, fighting, teasing, complaining, love, disrespect and a generally disgraceful level of etiquette. Teenagers! Everyone knows what that means. I love it. But at dinner at TYC it was different. In fact, this was like a dining hall full of adults. The conversations were hushed and polite. Now I was really paying attention. There was a much, much higher level of politeness, courtesy, and maturity in this place. Many of them came and introduced themselves to me and welcomed me BEFORE I was introduced, and my esteemed position as Executive Presbyter explained. Wait a minute! These are not your ordinary teenagers. I filed the thought away, finished dinner and was invited to stay for their evening worship service.
And everything became very clear to me during worship. Worship at TYC that evening was deeply authentic, genuine and meaningful. I was very touched. These teenagers wanted to worship God. They were all gathered, and politely waiting, long before the sound system was prepared. Their singing was glorious. Everyone was seriously engaged with the sermon. The sermon was excellent, biblical, long, full, complete and sophisticated. The touches of creativity in worship with a shared prayer time and an innovative statement of faith were brilliant. As a personal conviction of my own understanding of ministry, I never hug teenagers. But when I turned during this worship service to shake hands and pass the peace of Christ, I was gently told, "We hug here." Indeed, the Passing of the Peace was an extended, very devout time of hugging. I think I was hugged thirty times!
I chatted with Charlie Best after worship. I told him I perceived a remarkable spirit and a very rich, spiritual maturity here. I asked how that happens. He said, "I’m not sure. But over the years of this Conference, some how, the expectations of what we do here together have risen very, very high. That seems to be the way everyone acts." Trinity Youth Conference is an extraordinary event which attracts some of the most extraordinary, gifted, devout, and intelligent teenagers I have ever seen all together in one place. Thanks be to God!
P.S. Because of the significant restructuring of the Synod of the Trinity, funding will no longer be available for programs like Trinity Youth Conference. Its funding is being gradually cut back and will be eliminated in time. For this program to continue, it will be necessary for congregations to establish and maintain it as part of their congregation’s youth ministry.
Waynesboro
The Waynesboro Presbyterian Church sits with historic majesty on the main street of town. Visiting for the first time, I noticed its steeple several blocks before I arrived. I soon discovered a wonderfully welcoming back door entrance, along with ample parking, directly behind the church. Like many, healthy "downtown" churches today, the Waynesboro Church has done an excellent job of redoing their building. Often these old, main street churches were built to reflect a time when church people appreciated a stroll along main street and direct access to the sanctuary. The architecture was frequently directed toward the main street, the back bone of small town America. The church was often set apart from the main street by steep steps up to the sanctuary, very symbolic of rising up to worship. This symbolism is completely obsolete today, and churches often must rethink. Now with our automobile culture and the scattering of our homes away from main street, we always prefer parking lots to on-street parking. Main streets do not connect people together as they once did so the church must try to do it.
The Waynesboro Church is another brilliant expression of this massive culture change. Their new entry space, with the covered outdoor entrance off of their parking lots, and their bright, light, and spacious greeting area, "Jessen Hall," is fabulous. Without affecting their sanctuary, the congregation has effectively remodeled their church building to create a very inviting space. It is another example of intelligent architectural design which both makes an innovative theological statement and remains very true to the tradition of the church on main street. Of course, accessibility throughout the building is the symbolism we want today, reflecting our theology of hospitality. Congratulations Waynesboro on your successful remodeling and, of course, the good news that it is already paid for, and a full tithe of the Capital Campaign was directed to mission work!
I was delighted to lead worship with the Waynesboro congregation. Being a detail person, I greatly appreciated the care with which I was prepared for worship and particularly the care and reverence which went into the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. There was a wonderful, good spirit in the congregation. I perceive the congregation to be in a very good place to move into the future which God has prepared, after the long and successful service of Chuck Jessen.
In addition to their architectural innovation, the Waynesboro Church also has a deep and obvious commitment to extending the Gospel of Christ around the world through their generous mission commitment. Waynesboro is also on the front edge of our changed way of doing mission work, with our new emphasis on personal relationships and mutual support. We no longer simply throw money at projects. Now congregations across the church are creating ongoing, intentional, long-term, personal relationships with people doing ministry all around the globe. This personal commitment to mission is a very evident, high priority of the Waynesboro Church and reflects a transformation in the way our denomination is doing mission. Their mission bulletin board, the likes of which I have seen in many churches, includes a photograph of all their mission partners and concretely reflects our new theology of mission. Waynesboro Presbyterian Church, Thank you for your commitment to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
The Waynesboro Church is another brilliant expression of this massive culture change. Their new entry space, with the covered outdoor entrance off of their parking lots, and their bright, light, and spacious greeting area, "Jessen Hall," is fabulous. Without affecting their sanctuary, the congregation has effectively remodeled their church building to create a very inviting space. It is another example of intelligent architectural design which both makes an innovative theological statement and remains very true to the tradition of the church on main street. Of course, accessibility throughout the building is the symbolism we want today, reflecting our theology of hospitality. Congratulations Waynesboro on your successful remodeling and, of course, the good news that it is already paid for, and a full tithe of the Capital Campaign was directed to mission work!
I was delighted to lead worship with the Waynesboro congregation. Being a detail person, I greatly appreciated the care with which I was prepared for worship and particularly the care and reverence which went into the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. There was a wonderful, good spirit in the congregation. I perceive the congregation to be in a very good place to move into the future which God has prepared, after the long and successful service of Chuck Jessen.
In addition to their architectural innovation, the Waynesboro Church also has a deep and obvious commitment to extending the Gospel of Christ around the world through their generous mission commitment. Waynesboro is also on the front edge of our changed way of doing mission work, with our new emphasis on personal relationships and mutual support. We no longer simply throw money at projects. Now congregations across the church are creating ongoing, intentional, long-term, personal relationships with people doing ministry all around the globe. This personal commitment to mission is a very evident, high priority of the Waynesboro Church and reflects a transformation in the way our denomination is doing mission. Their mission bulletin board, the likes of which I have seen in many churches, includes a photograph of all their mission partners and concretely reflects our new theology of mission. Waynesboro Presbyterian Church, Thank you for your commitment to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Port Royal and Mexico
Port Royal and Mexico Presbyterian Churches
Pastor Carol Davis
I was delighted to be part of the Presbytery’s Installation Commission created for the purpose of installing the Rev. Carol Davis as the pastor of the Port Royal and Mexico Churches. North on Route 322 along the Juniata River is now one of my favorite drives, and I know it well. Exit at Route 75; go west only a bit, cross one of those old, narrow, steel frame bridges across the Juniata and you arrive in Port Royal. The action of our Installation Commission was a unique and specialized expression of our church’s polity. Nothing Carol was doing and nothing about her service to these two yoked congregations in Juniata County is changing. Carol has been serving there for years. She has settled into a very effective and comfortable pastoral relationship. There is, I perceive, a wonderful sprit in these churches. The reason for the Installation Service was to celebrate the good news that Carol’s official status was changing from designated pastor to pastor. After our full process had worked itself out including recommendations of both sessions, the affirmative votes of both congregations and the concurrence of the Committee on Ministry, and by her request, Carol’s status was changed and she is now Installed as Pastor. Good news, great ministry, a caring and effective pastoral relationship, small but strong congregations: Thanks be God! Congratulations Carol! Congratulations Port Royal and Mexico Churches!
As we worked through our process for changing from designated pastor to pastor, I have come to an interesting insight. I believe the concept of the designated pastor reflects some real institutional flexibility and creativity by our Church. I know very well that anything typically associated with the requirements of our Book of Order is not usually used in the same sentence with words like ‘flexible’ and ‘creative’. But I am now convinced that this category of designated pastor reflects our deep, spiritual and intellectual desire to create a theology of professional ministry responsive to the needs of the Church today.
The concept of designated pastor is a new thing. The 196th General Assembly (1984) took action adding this category into the Book of Order, a constitutional action which was affirmed by a majority of the Presbyteries. There was a lot of work that went into this proposal including research and study papers by the Vocation Agency and the General Assembly Mission Board. The focus of this effort was to create a pastoral position which has a defined term. This new category of designated pastor created a very flexible and experimental pastoral relationship. With a term of only two to four years, it is possible to create a designated pastor relationship in situations where we may not be certain the relationship is viable. Initially the designated pastor relationship was presented as a tool to be used for redevelopment and transformation projects, i.e. experimental ministry. By definition the designated pastor is intended to be a risky and bold new expression of ministry.
The real kicker came in 1991. The Presbytery of New Jersey brought an overture recommending that a designated pastor "may not be called to be the next installed pastor or associate pastor of the church..." Importantly, this overture was defeated. Indeed, as we have done in Port Royal and Mexico, a designated pastor may become the next installed pastor. This sets the designated category in a very different place than our concept of interim pastor which is expressly forbidden from becoming the next installed pastor. We have created a new expression of the office of pastor. With that we have introduced into our theology and practice of ministry a concept we have never had before. The designated pastor is an installed position for a term of two to four years which may be considered as the next installed pastor. We affirmed the possibility of a gradual discernment of call. We may establish the pastoral relationship, but only for term, to allow ourselves time to test the call, and continue the discernment. We constitutionally affirmed the reality that discernment may be flawed.
Once it was decided that a designated pastor could be the next installed pastor there was a lot of work done to refine the actual procedure for doing so. In 1992 the General Assembly took action revising and combining overtures from the presbyteries of Wyoming, New Castle and Detroit in order to define the procedure by which a designated pastor may become the next installed pastor. This was a difficult piece of work since it was necessary to guard one of the true sanctities of Presbyterian polity: the open search process. Thus the very difficult and dense language we currently have in the Book of Order, 14.0501, was added.
And there we have it. A sparkling new office of pastor in our Presbyterian Church: the designated pastor. I propose we put this innovative concept to work in our Presbytery. We may use this office, with its defined term, to create positions in new church development. One of our congregations, with support from the new church development committee, may call a designated pastor on staff for the expressed purpose of creating new ministry. With its two to four year defined term, we will give that new pastor permission to go at it. At the end of the defined term we can evaluate the new ministry, and the future viability of planting a new church. If it thrives and is blessed the designated pastor may become the installed pastor of the new church. If it does not blossom, we can reevaluate. By the mysterious providence of God, maybe our Book of Order can be used to create flexible and innovative ministry in our midst. Thanks be to God.
Book of Order g-14.0501g is quoted here: "g. A designated pastor is a minister of the Word and Sacrament approved by the committee on ministry to be elected for a term of not less than two nor more than four years by the vote of the congregation. The relationship shall be established by the presbytery. Such a pastor shall be nominated by the congregation's pastor nominating committee only from among those designated by the committee on ministry of the presbytery. The congregation and the minister both must volunteer to be considered for a designated term relationship. Such a call may be established only with the prior concurrence of the committee on ministry of the presbytery. The terms of the call shall be approved by the presbytery. The minister shall be installed by the presbytery and shall be moderator of the session. The sections on calling and installing a pastor shall apply. (G-14.0502-.0507) If there has been an open search process conducted by the committee on ministry and after three years of the designated pastor relationship, upon the concurrence of the committee on ministry, the designated pastor , and the session, acting in place of the pastor nominating committee for the single purpose of calling the designated pastor as pastor, a congregational meeting may be held to call the designated pastor as pastor: The session, with the concurrence of the committee on ministry, may call a congregational meeting to elect a pastor nominating committee to conduct a full pastoral search or to prosecute the call to the designated pastor to become pastor. The action of the congregation shall be reported to the presbytery. If the congregational action is affirmative, the presbytery, after voting to approve the new pastoral relationship, shall install the designated pastor as pastor"
Pastor Carol Davis
I was delighted to be part of the Presbytery’s Installation Commission created for the purpose of installing the Rev. Carol Davis as the pastor of the Port Royal and Mexico Churches. North on Route 322 along the Juniata River is now one of my favorite drives, and I know it well. Exit at Route 75; go west only a bit, cross one of those old, narrow, steel frame bridges across the Juniata and you arrive in Port Royal. The action of our Installation Commission was a unique and specialized expression of our church’s polity. Nothing Carol was doing and nothing about her service to these two yoked congregations in Juniata County is changing. Carol has been serving there for years. She has settled into a very effective and comfortable pastoral relationship. There is, I perceive, a wonderful sprit in these churches. The reason for the Installation Service was to celebrate the good news that Carol’s official status was changing from designated pastor to pastor. After our full process had worked itself out including recommendations of both sessions, the affirmative votes of both congregations and the concurrence of the Committee on Ministry, and by her request, Carol’s status was changed and she is now Installed as Pastor. Good news, great ministry, a caring and effective pastoral relationship, small but strong congregations: Thanks be God! Congratulations Carol! Congratulations Port Royal and Mexico Churches!
As we worked through our process for changing from designated pastor to pastor, I have come to an interesting insight. I believe the concept of the designated pastor reflects some real institutional flexibility and creativity by our Church. I know very well that anything typically associated with the requirements of our Book of Order is not usually used in the same sentence with words like ‘flexible’ and ‘creative’. But I am now convinced that this category of designated pastor reflects our deep, spiritual and intellectual desire to create a theology of professional ministry responsive to the needs of the Church today.
The concept of designated pastor is a new thing. The 196th General Assembly (1984) took action adding this category into the Book of Order, a constitutional action which was affirmed by a majority of the Presbyteries. There was a lot of work that went into this proposal including research and study papers by the Vocation Agency and the General Assembly Mission Board. The focus of this effort was to create a pastoral position which has a defined term. This new category of designated pastor created a very flexible and experimental pastoral relationship. With a term of only two to four years, it is possible to create a designated pastor relationship in situations where we may not be certain the relationship is viable. Initially the designated pastor relationship was presented as a tool to be used for redevelopment and transformation projects, i.e. experimental ministry. By definition the designated pastor is intended to be a risky and bold new expression of ministry.
The real kicker came in 1991. The Presbytery of New Jersey brought an overture recommending that a designated pastor "may not be called to be the next installed pastor or associate pastor of the church..." Importantly, this overture was defeated. Indeed, as we have done in Port Royal and Mexico, a designated pastor may become the next installed pastor. This sets the designated category in a very different place than our concept of interim pastor which is expressly forbidden from becoming the next installed pastor. We have created a new expression of the office of pastor. With that we have introduced into our theology and practice of ministry a concept we have never had before. The designated pastor is an installed position for a term of two to four years which may be considered as the next installed pastor. We affirmed the possibility of a gradual discernment of call. We may establish the pastoral relationship, but only for term, to allow ourselves time to test the call, and continue the discernment. We constitutionally affirmed the reality that discernment may be flawed.
Once it was decided that a designated pastor could be the next installed pastor there was a lot of work done to refine the actual procedure for doing so. In 1992 the General Assembly took action revising and combining overtures from the presbyteries of Wyoming, New Castle and Detroit in order to define the procedure by which a designated pastor may become the next installed pastor. This was a difficult piece of work since it was necessary to guard one of the true sanctities of Presbyterian polity: the open search process. Thus the very difficult and dense language we currently have in the Book of Order, 14.0501, was added.
And there we have it. A sparkling new office of pastor in our Presbyterian Church: the designated pastor. I propose we put this innovative concept to work in our Presbytery. We may use this office, with its defined term, to create positions in new church development. One of our congregations, with support from the new church development committee, may call a designated pastor on staff for the expressed purpose of creating new ministry. With its two to four year defined term, we will give that new pastor permission to go at it. At the end of the defined term we can evaluate the new ministry, and the future viability of planting a new church. If it thrives and is blessed the designated pastor may become the installed pastor of the new church. If it does not blossom, we can reevaluate. By the mysterious providence of God, maybe our Book of Order can be used to create flexible and innovative ministry in our midst. Thanks be to God.
Book of Order g-14.0501g is quoted here: "g. A designated pastor is a minister of the Word and Sacrament approved by the committee on ministry to be elected for a term of not less than two nor more than four years by the vote of the congregation. The relationship shall be established by the presbytery. Such a pastor shall be nominated by the congregation's pastor nominating committee only from among those designated by the committee on ministry of the presbytery. The congregation and the minister both must volunteer to be considered for a designated term relationship. Such a call may be established only with the prior concurrence of the committee on ministry of the presbytery. The terms of the call shall be approved by the presbytery. The minister shall be installed by the presbytery and shall be moderator of the session. The sections on calling and installing a pastor shall apply. (G-14.0502-.0507) If there has been an open search process conducted by the committee on ministry and after three years of the designated pastor relationship, upon the concurrence of the committee on ministry, the designated pastor , and the session, acting in place of the pastor nominating committee for the single purpose of calling the designated pastor as pastor, a congregational meeting may be held to call the designated pastor as pastor: The session, with the concurrence of the committee on ministry, may call a congregational meeting to elect a pastor nominating committee to conduct a full pastoral search or to prosecute the call to the designated pastor to become pastor. The action of the congregation shall be reported to the presbytery. If the congregational action is affirmative, the presbytery, after voting to approve the new pastoral relationship, shall install the designated pastor as pastor"
Mechanicsburg
Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church
Pastors Rick Sweeney, Myrtle McCall, DCE Kathy Wells.
I was delighted to be in worship with the Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church on the Third Sunday of Advent. The chancel was filled with wrapped Christmas gifts for their generous ministry into their community: a wonderful expression of Christmas cheer and compassion. The hymns of the season and the excellent music program at Mechanicsburg were deeply meaningful to me. I realized again how the melodies of our great Advent hymns have penetrated into my soul. I grew up with this music, and the hymns of Advent move me.
But my reflections on the day went off in an academic direction sparked by Rick’s fine preaching on the text about John the Baptist. In an outstanding development of our story of John the Baptist, Rick made the point that we need to claim again the idea of our Christian faith as a movement, not an institution. There is freshness, energy, novelty and creativity in the Christian movement which gets stifled when all we do is institutionalized in the life of the church. What is the difference between Christianity as a movement, the model of John the Baptist and Jesus, and the institutionalization of the church into large congregations and bureaucracies?
Rick’s sermon on that question sent me scurrying back to my bookshelf to revisit one of the classics: Ernst Troeltsch, The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches in two volumes with an Introduction by H. Richard Niebuhr, (University of Chicago Press, 1976) (First English edition 1931; First German edition 1911). I remembered that Troeltsch made exactly this distinction between "institution" and "movement". Of course, I remembered wrong. Troeltsch’s brilliant distinction which he uses to help interpret all of Christian history is between "church," "sect" and "mysticism". With special thanks to Rick’s good Advent preaching and in memory of John the Baptist who started the Christian movement, I bring to you here a summary of Ernst Troeltsch’s wonderful thesis (volume 2, page 993):
"From the very beginning there appeared the three main types of the sociological development of Christian thought: the Church, the sect, and mysticism.
The Church is an institution which has been endowed with grace and salvation as the result of the work of Redemption; it is able to receive the masses, and to adjust itself to the world, because, to a certain extent, it can afford to ignore the need for subjective treasures of grace and of redemption.
The sect is a voluntary society, composed of strict and definite Christian believers bound to each other by the fact that all have experienced ‘the new birth’. These ‘believers’ live apart from the world, are limited to small groups, emphasize the law instead of grace, and in varying degrees within their own circle set up the Christian order, based on love; all this is done in preparation for and expectation of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Mysticism means that the world of ideas which had hardened into formal worship and doctrine is transformed into a purely personal and inward experience; this leads to the formation of groups on a purely personal basis, with no permanent form, which also tend to weaken the significance of forms of worship, doctrine, and the historical element.
From the beginning these three forms were foreshadowed, and all down the centuries to the present day, wherever religion is dominant, they still appear alongside of one another, while among themselves they are strangely and variously interwoven and interconnected. The churches alone have the power to stir the masses in any real and lasting way."
Possibly we need a bit of sect-like and mysticism-like quality in our churches.
Pastors Rick Sweeney, Myrtle McCall, DCE Kathy Wells.
I was delighted to be in worship with the Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church on the Third Sunday of Advent. The chancel was filled with wrapped Christmas gifts for their generous ministry into their community: a wonderful expression of Christmas cheer and compassion. The hymns of the season and the excellent music program at Mechanicsburg were deeply meaningful to me. I realized again how the melodies of our great Advent hymns have penetrated into my soul. I grew up with this music, and the hymns of Advent move me.
But my reflections on the day went off in an academic direction sparked by Rick’s fine preaching on the text about John the Baptist. In an outstanding development of our story of John the Baptist, Rick made the point that we need to claim again the idea of our Christian faith as a movement, not an institution. There is freshness, energy, novelty and creativity in the Christian movement which gets stifled when all we do is institutionalized in the life of the church. What is the difference between Christianity as a movement, the model of John the Baptist and Jesus, and the institutionalization of the church into large congregations and bureaucracies?
Rick’s sermon on that question sent me scurrying back to my bookshelf to revisit one of the classics: Ernst Troeltsch, The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches in two volumes with an Introduction by H. Richard Niebuhr, (University of Chicago Press, 1976) (First English edition 1931; First German edition 1911). I remembered that Troeltsch made exactly this distinction between "institution" and "movement". Of course, I remembered wrong. Troeltsch’s brilliant distinction which he uses to help interpret all of Christian history is between "church," "sect" and "mysticism". With special thanks to Rick’s good Advent preaching and in memory of John the Baptist who started the Christian movement, I bring to you here a summary of Ernst Troeltsch’s wonderful thesis (volume 2, page 993):
"From the very beginning there appeared the three main types of the sociological development of Christian thought: the Church, the sect, and mysticism.
The Church is an institution which has been endowed with grace and salvation as the result of the work of Redemption; it is able to receive the masses, and to adjust itself to the world, because, to a certain extent, it can afford to ignore the need for subjective treasures of grace and of redemption.
The sect is a voluntary society, composed of strict and definite Christian believers bound to each other by the fact that all have experienced ‘the new birth’. These ‘believers’ live apart from the world, are limited to small groups, emphasize the law instead of grace, and in varying degrees within their own circle set up the Christian order, based on love; all this is done in preparation for and expectation of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Mysticism means that the world of ideas which had hardened into formal worship and doctrine is transformed into a purely personal and inward experience; this leads to the formation of groups on a purely personal basis, with no permanent form, which also tend to weaken the significance of forms of worship, doctrine, and the historical element.
From the beginning these three forms were foreshadowed, and all down the centuries to the present day, wherever religion is dominant, they still appear alongside of one another, while among themselves they are strangely and variously interwoven and interconnected. The churches alone have the power to stir the masses in any real and lasting way."
Possibly we need a bit of sect-like and mysticism-like quality in our churches.
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