Highland United

Highland United Presbyterian Church
Pastor Ed Baugh

History can be dry and sterile. Often we need a deep, spiritual imagination to read between the lines in order to understand the blood, sweat and tears that are behind a simple statement of historical fact. For example, in our Bicentennial History of the Presbytery of Carlisle it is reported (Page 80):

“The New Bloomfield and the Newport Presbyterian Churches petitioned the Presbytery of Carlisle that they be merged at its meeting at Middletown on January 24, 1967 on the basis of the Articles of Merger approved by the two congregations at a meeting held on December 16, 1966. The Service of Merger was held at the United Presbyterian Church at Newport, PA on Sunday January 29, 1967. Assets of both congregations were held by the merged church.”

That seems like such a cut and dry, straightforward statement of historical fact. But between those lines is a story of remarkable vision and true congregation-based redevelopment and renewal. These two congregations did something that is very rare, very difficult and fraught with all kinds of danger. But they did it! And that story is only part of their journey of change and innovation. This amazing story continued in the early 1990s when the United Presbyterian Church of Newport and the First Presbyterian Church of Millerstown merged their congregations to form the current Highland United Presbyterian Church.
With that history in mind, I had the opportunity to spend a Sunday with the Highland United Church. Not only is Highland United the culmination of these successful mergers; they now have built a beautiful new Church building on a gorgeous (and windy) little, hilltop bluff in Newport.

Merging churches, creating healthy yoked relationships or even finding ways to cooperate in shared ministry are tremendously difficult tasks for our congregations today. There is enormous emotional power and cultural inertia invested in the life of our individual congregations. Changing that is profoundly difficult; only possible by the abiding work of God’s Holy Spirit. The financial questions of church mergers, and the lingering questions of property and ownership can be divisive and debilitating in their own right. The subtle issues of congregational culture are most difficult. How do two, distinct and separate congregations give birth together to a new future which is true to but moves beyond the history and heritage of both?

Highland had done it with remarkable success! In casual conversation on a number of occasions with Ed, and in hanging around their Sunday school and greeting time before and after worship, during my visit, I asked a number of Highland members about this history. There is common and universal agreement that the story of the mergers is now old history. There are no lingering divisions; no splits in the congregation today out of past allegiances; no on-going turf wars. For everyone I spoke with my question about the lingering influence of the mergers was a non-issue. There was simply nothing to talk about; the new congregation had moved on.
Theologically, it seems to me, because of our very high Reformed doctrine of sin, our congregations have a deep reluctance to celebrate themselves, to applaud themselves, and to simply give thanks. Of course, there is wisdom in this theology. We know fully and do not hide from the reality of how truly messed up our relationships often are. But there is also time to celebrate and give thanks for the great gifts which have been given to us.
I celebrate the Highland Church, what they stand for and what they have accomplished. For the leadership of those who have gone before who made it happen; and for the leaders today who are trying to live into that legacy of bold, innovative change. Indeed, that is really the point I came away with from my time at Highland Church. There is tremendous energy in the congregation. Ed leads an energized and Spirit-filled worship service which has the sanctuary very full. There is a wonderful tone of moving, growing, changing and creating which must be the legacy of their unique history.

And then there was this question that came back to me in a number of ways, and from a number of their Elders who expressed deep passion for their Church. I know that this is also the question that Ed is praying about as he leads their church. What are we going to do now? As I hemmed and hawed and stumbled around some inadequate responses to that question, my heart rejoiced. I thought to myself: these people are not stuck in their history at all. This is a forward-looking church with a forward-looking spirit. I do not have any magic formulas or answers to the important question, “What are we going to do now?” But I pray and pray that question will fill every one of our congregations. If we can begin living into that question then I believe truly the very best days of our Church are yet to come!