My proposal for the future direction of the ministry and mission of the Synod is very simple. The Synod should be completely dismantled as a governing body. There is nothing shocking or surprising about this proposal. I have heard this very point repeatedly in conversation with many different people around the church. The complete dismantling of the Synod is often spoken of as an inevitable result of time and funding. We know this will happen someday. The Synod is going to disappear as a governing body; my concern is that this will happen by a very slow death which will devour vast amounts of money and hours of leadership time. I propose we become much more forward thinking and visionary in approaching this question. I propose we do not simply allow the force of inevitability to define our future.
I have heard all the emotional arguments which presume that the dismantling of the Synod will compromise and break our connectedness as a church. I humbly submit this is completely not true. The Synod is not a source of connectedness in the church today. The most effective source of institutional connectedness across the denomination today, and in my experience in the Presbytery of Carlisle, is provided by the General Assembly. The General Assembly provides a vital connecting link on the Office of the General Assembly side by providing our constitution in the Book of Order and Book of Confessions, and, of course, for providing the process for their amendment. Much more important to my heart and soul, I believe that the General Assembly Council, the other side of our General Assembly, provides the most important connecting link in our church through the World Mission office. It is here that we should be gathering and focusing our resources and leadership. In addition, I believe the Office of Theology and Worship and the Church Leadership Connection provide vital connecting links within our church. We do not need the Synod for any of these vital connecting links in the church today.
Very quickly, I propose to offer an overview of what we may lose and what we may gain if we boldly and courageously consider the complete dismantling of the Synod.
What we should lose: We should lose the administrative functioning of the Synod. There should not be any Synod meetings, no Synod commissioners, no official governing body action or administrative maintenance. Within our presbyteries we should not continue to hit our heads against the wall trying to recruit Synod commissioners. There should not be any Synod programs or vast Synod initiatives.
What we should gain: I propose that the position of Synod executive should be transformed into a “Consultant to the Presbyteries” position. This professional church consultant should work in two broad areas, with oversight provided by a very small Coordinating Council which may include one person from each of our presbyteries.
Leadership Development: The consultant to the Presbyteries should focus on developing the leadership of the presbyteries. This will include models of support and nurture parallel to what we now have in the Executive Presbyter Forum. The consultant will take responsibility for gathering leaders together. These leaders may be the Executives, the Associate Executives, the Clerks, the Moderators, the chairs of our COM and CPMs, large church pastors, small church pastors, lay pastors, new pastors, etc. There are many different constituencies of leaders which our Presbytery consultant could be responsible for connecting together and encouraging. The consultant’s responsibility would be to help create the bonds of prayer and patterns of mutual support, sharing, and learning for our presbytery leaders.
Mission Networks: The Presbytery consultant should initiate, support, and encourage multi-presbytery mission networks. This has been discussed in the current Synod structure, but this whole effort has, in my opinion, been completely stifled because of our concern to maintain a governing body. Thus, currently, the mission networks have been left to fend for themselves. Some of them like the Transformation Network and the Trinity Disaster Response Network, which Carlisle initiated, have thrived. I submit that the whole concept of mission networks fits the theological, technological and cultural context which we are learning to live into as a church. For example, our General Assembly’s World Mission office is supporting a system of international mission networks, where there is tremendous energy and deep spiritual commitment. I am the moderator of our nascent Honduras mission network. This model may be the future of Presbyterian World Mission. At our level, as a gathering of presbyteries, I humbly submit that we cannot have both. We cannot have a robust and energetic commitment to mission networks and a functioning governing body. As it is now, we are trying to both and we are doing neither very well.
In summary, I propose the complete dismantling of the Synod as a governing body. I propose the creation of a full-time consultant to the Presbyteries position with a focus on leadership development and mission networks. I propose that of our presbyteries redirect their Basic Mission Giving distributions from the Synod to the General Assembly. The new consultant to the presbyteries should have a salary and a support infrastructure derived solely from Per Capita contributions and current Synod financial reserves.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Book Review: Lamin Senneh
Lamin Senneh,
Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity
Oxford University Press, 2008
There is something truly remarkable happening in the world. I believe we must be constantly challenged and inspired to lift up our eyes and ponder what is happening in the Church (note the capital “C”) in our world today. It is easy and ordinary to be short-sighted. We may easily consider our own daily to-do list to be the full extent of our vision of the church on any given work day in ministry. There are, of course, sermons to write to satisfy the inevitable coming of another Sunday, and worship services to craft for special seasonal occasions, committee meetings to attend, and the relentless call of pastoral visits. We express ministry on a daily and a local level, and it becomes natural and easy for us to consider this the end of the story, and the fullness of our task.
But, once and again, a voice goes out and may enter our ear, which beckons our vision up and out. Lamin Senneh is such a voice. Do we realize what is happening in the Church around the world? Wow. Listen to this voice. Pay attention to this word. There is something truly remarkable happening in the Church. We are living through a great, global awakening of the Church. The fact is our little corner of Christ’s holy Church today, that is, the American Protestant churches and specifically our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are not participating in this great awakening. The implications of this fact deserve our deepest pondering and prayer. Being outside of this great global awakening will have momentous consequences for our style of church. I believe we need to start paying attention to voices like Professor Senneh.
This new book is the first in a series of books being published as the Oxford Studies in World Christianity. Lamin Sennneh, of Yale University, is the series editor.
“The extent to which the current awakening has occurred without the institutions and structures that defined Western Christendom, including the tradition of scholarship, learning, and cosmopolitanism, is an important feature of World Christianity and its largely hinterland following. In the current resurgence monasteries, theological schools, and hierarchical agency, for example, have played comparatively little role. . . .” (quoted from locations 58-63 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)
This is, of course, the fact with which we must reckon, even while we are too often captivated and captured by our local concerns: “With unflagging momentum, Christianity has become, or is fast becoming, the principal religion of the people of the world. Primal societies that once stood well outside the main orbit of the faith have become major centers of Christian impact, while Europe and North America, once considered the religion’s heartlands, are in noticeable recession.” (quoted from locations 80-83 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)
“These unprecedented developments cast a revealing light on the serial nature of Christian origins, expansion, and subsequent attrition. They fit into cycles of retreat and advance, of contraction and expansion, and of waning and awakening that have characterized the religion since its birth, though they are now revealed to us with particular force. The pattern of contrasting development is occurring simultaneously in various societies across the world. The religion is now in the twilight of its Western phase and at the beginning of its formative non-Western impact. Christianity has not ceased to be a Western religion, but its future as a world religion is now being formed and shaped at the hands and in the minds of its non-Western adherents. Rather than being a cause for unsettling gloom, for Christians this new situation is a reason for guarded hope.” (quoted from locations 88-92 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)
A guarded hope indeed! Amen!
Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity
Oxford University Press, 2008
There is something truly remarkable happening in the world. I believe we must be constantly challenged and inspired to lift up our eyes and ponder what is happening in the Church (note the capital “C”) in our world today. It is easy and ordinary to be short-sighted. We may easily consider our own daily to-do list to be the full extent of our vision of the church on any given work day in ministry. There are, of course, sermons to write to satisfy the inevitable coming of another Sunday, and worship services to craft for special seasonal occasions, committee meetings to attend, and the relentless call of pastoral visits. We express ministry on a daily and a local level, and it becomes natural and easy for us to consider this the end of the story, and the fullness of our task.
But, once and again, a voice goes out and may enter our ear, which beckons our vision up and out. Lamin Senneh is such a voice. Do we realize what is happening in the Church around the world? Wow. Listen to this voice. Pay attention to this word. There is something truly remarkable happening in the Church. We are living through a great, global awakening of the Church. The fact is our little corner of Christ’s holy Church today, that is, the American Protestant churches and specifically our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are not participating in this great awakening. The implications of this fact deserve our deepest pondering and prayer. Being outside of this great global awakening will have momentous consequences for our style of church. I believe we need to start paying attention to voices like Professor Senneh.
This new book is the first in a series of books being published as the Oxford Studies in World Christianity. Lamin Sennneh, of Yale University, is the series editor.
“The extent to which the current awakening has occurred without the institutions and structures that defined Western Christendom, including the tradition of scholarship, learning, and cosmopolitanism, is an important feature of World Christianity and its largely hinterland following. In the current resurgence monasteries, theological schools, and hierarchical agency, for example, have played comparatively little role. . . .” (quoted from locations 58-63 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)
This is, of course, the fact with which we must reckon, even while we are too often captivated and captured by our local concerns: “With unflagging momentum, Christianity has become, or is fast becoming, the principal religion of the people of the world. Primal societies that once stood well outside the main orbit of the faith have become major centers of Christian impact, while Europe and North America, once considered the religion’s heartlands, are in noticeable recession.” (quoted from locations 80-83 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)
“These unprecedented developments cast a revealing light on the serial nature of Christian origins, expansion, and subsequent attrition. They fit into cycles of retreat and advance, of contraction and expansion, and of waning and awakening that have characterized the religion since its birth, though they are now revealed to us with particular force. The pattern of contrasting development is occurring simultaneously in various societies across the world. The religion is now in the twilight of its Western phase and at the beginning of its formative non-Western impact. Christianity has not ceased to be a Western religion, but its future as a world religion is now being formed and shaped at the hands and in the minds of its non-Western adherents. Rather than being a cause for unsettling gloom, for Christians this new situation is a reason for guarded hope.” (quoted from locations 88-92 of the Amazon Kindle edition.)
A guarded hope indeed! Amen!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Report to the Presbytery Jan. 27, 2009
In anticipation of his Invocation at the Inauguration of President Obama, there was a lot of criticism of Rev. Rick Warren. I read a comment from Rev. Warren where he responded, “I am not for the right wing; I am not for the left wing; I am for the whole bird.” I like that image. I feel that way also. I am for the whole bird.
On this day, at this meeting of the Presbytery of Carlisle, we participate again in the great debate about the qualifications for officers in our church. In my mind, and I know many others agree, there seems to be a deep spiritual fatigue around these issues. Here we go again; many of us feel with frustration and resignation. Will anyone change their mind? Are there any new insights and arguments which we have not heard before? Here we go again, and it all seems tired and deeply wearing. From my perspective, there has been very little interest in these questions in our presbytery. I have not been invited to a single session meeting or a single Sunday school class to make a presentation on these questions. On the other hand, I have done numerous presentations on missional theology, our world mission work and on Camp Krislund. Of the two, open discussion forums I created to talk about the General Assembly, one was cancelled because of a lack of response. The second, hosted by our Greencastle Church, was an excellent discussion and a good event, but with only five of our churches represented. As far as I know, our General Assembly commissioners have not been invited to other churches to discuss their experiences. In my very casual conversation with a number of pastors, I am not aware of any churches that have had session discussions, or congregational conversations around these General Assembly amendments. I hope that there has been some discussion at your session meetings in preparation of this vote today.
At the same time, I have a very different perception of our Presbytery. In many ways, and I can list examples, this Presbytery is very engaged, energized, motivated, healthy and vital. This is, in my mind, a remarkably good and healthy Presbytery, and my opinion is confirmed when I hear stories from my colleagues about some of the dysfunction and conflict that is happening in many other presbyteries. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work and serve in this presbytery.
Obviously, we have something very, very special in our presbytery. There is a tremendously high level of trust and support. There is a deep and abiding sense of collegiality and friendship among our church leaders. We have been, two years in row, the number one Presbytery in the nation in per member basic mission giving. There continues to be very strong participation in Per Capita giving. There is, I believe, a wonderful good spirit at our presbytery meetings and a very high level of participation. As I am out and about in our churches, I am blessed by the respect and appreciation which I receive. This is not about me. This reflects a high level of respect and appreciation for my office, and thus for the presbytery itself. We have a remarkable gift and grace in our presbytery.
So I ask this question: out of our health and out of our spiritual vitality as a presbytery how may we serve the whole church? How can the Presbytery of Carlisle contribute to the peace, unity and purity of the whole church? I have been pondering this question since the meeting of the General Assembly last June; I have not come up with any brilliant answers.
I put together a draft overture to the General Assembly which proposed that all changes to our constitution be decided by supermajority voting. In my own mind, I pondered this idea as a way to create a higher unity, and a greater consensus around these questions. But as I shared my proposal with some friends around the presbytery, I quickly realized that proposal did not bring people together across the great divide but, in fact, fell right into the old divisions.
So I ask again, what may we do, as one of the healthiest and vital presbyteries in the church, to share our gift? How may we give what we share to the whole church? How may we contribute to the peace, unity and purity of the whole church out of the deep sense of peace, unity and purity which we share among ourselves?
So I put that question out there for us to ponder and consider. I only have some tentative suggestions which move us in that direction. I suggest that we make a commitment to enhancing and growing what we already do very well. Let us build better relationships, enhance the bonds of unity and trust, and grow the connections which we already share in this presbytery.
Some modest proposals:
Let us organize a presbytery wide pulpit exchange this year. As a Presbytery, we did this before, long ago, in celebration of the Presbytery’s 150th anniversary. This will be an opportunity for our preachers to share their gifts with other congregations and in a small way connect our congregations together.
Let us create a church to church partnership program within the presbytery. By linking up churches with one another we create a whole list of ways in which we may grow the relationships among us. Sessions can visit the other church for worship, there may be an exchange of Sunday school teachers for some classes, or maybe congregations can join together for a common worship service or maybe a picnic.
Let us make a common, renewed commitment to Camp Krislund. Let us build a camp and holy place dedicated to bringing people together across the dividing walls which separate us.
Let us explore and commit to a new international mission partnership, not as individual congregations but as a presbytery. I encourage your to join me in our Church Leadership Conference in Tegucigalpa this March. This is an excellent experience for pastor’s continuing education.
Let us have more fellowship and fun together. I encourage your participation in our presbytery retreat. I encourage your participation in our Presbytery day at the Harrisburg Senators baseball game this June 28.
Most of all let us continue to be the best Presbytery we can, let us grow the bonds of spiritual connection and mission involvement, let us learn each others names, and preach in each others pulpits, let build on the wonderful gift we have as a presbytery, and together let us discern ways we may share our abundant gifts with the whole church.
January 27, 2009
On this day, at this meeting of the Presbytery of Carlisle, we participate again in the great debate about the qualifications for officers in our church. In my mind, and I know many others agree, there seems to be a deep spiritual fatigue around these issues. Here we go again; many of us feel with frustration and resignation. Will anyone change their mind? Are there any new insights and arguments which we have not heard before? Here we go again, and it all seems tired and deeply wearing. From my perspective, there has been very little interest in these questions in our presbytery. I have not been invited to a single session meeting or a single Sunday school class to make a presentation on these questions. On the other hand, I have done numerous presentations on missional theology, our world mission work and on Camp Krislund. Of the two, open discussion forums I created to talk about the General Assembly, one was cancelled because of a lack of response. The second, hosted by our Greencastle Church, was an excellent discussion and a good event, but with only five of our churches represented. As far as I know, our General Assembly commissioners have not been invited to other churches to discuss their experiences. In my very casual conversation with a number of pastors, I am not aware of any churches that have had session discussions, or congregational conversations around these General Assembly amendments. I hope that there has been some discussion at your session meetings in preparation of this vote today.
At the same time, I have a very different perception of our Presbytery. In many ways, and I can list examples, this Presbytery is very engaged, energized, motivated, healthy and vital. This is, in my mind, a remarkably good and healthy Presbytery, and my opinion is confirmed when I hear stories from my colleagues about some of the dysfunction and conflict that is happening in many other presbyteries. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work and serve in this presbytery.
Obviously, we have something very, very special in our presbytery. There is a tremendously high level of trust and support. There is a deep and abiding sense of collegiality and friendship among our church leaders. We have been, two years in row, the number one Presbytery in the nation in per member basic mission giving. There continues to be very strong participation in Per Capita giving. There is, I believe, a wonderful good spirit at our presbytery meetings and a very high level of participation. As I am out and about in our churches, I am blessed by the respect and appreciation which I receive. This is not about me. This reflects a high level of respect and appreciation for my office, and thus for the presbytery itself. We have a remarkable gift and grace in our presbytery.
So I ask this question: out of our health and out of our spiritual vitality as a presbytery how may we serve the whole church? How can the Presbytery of Carlisle contribute to the peace, unity and purity of the whole church? I have been pondering this question since the meeting of the General Assembly last June; I have not come up with any brilliant answers.
I put together a draft overture to the General Assembly which proposed that all changes to our constitution be decided by supermajority voting. In my own mind, I pondered this idea as a way to create a higher unity, and a greater consensus around these questions. But as I shared my proposal with some friends around the presbytery, I quickly realized that proposal did not bring people together across the great divide but, in fact, fell right into the old divisions.
So I ask again, what may we do, as one of the healthiest and vital presbyteries in the church, to share our gift? How may we give what we share to the whole church? How may we contribute to the peace, unity and purity of the whole church out of the deep sense of peace, unity and purity which we share among ourselves?
So I put that question out there for us to ponder and consider. I only have some tentative suggestions which move us in that direction. I suggest that we make a commitment to enhancing and growing what we already do very well. Let us build better relationships, enhance the bonds of unity and trust, and grow the connections which we already share in this presbytery.
Some modest proposals:
Let us organize a presbytery wide pulpit exchange this year. As a Presbytery, we did this before, long ago, in celebration of the Presbytery’s 150th anniversary. This will be an opportunity for our preachers to share their gifts with other congregations and in a small way connect our congregations together.
Let us create a church to church partnership program within the presbytery. By linking up churches with one another we create a whole list of ways in which we may grow the relationships among us. Sessions can visit the other church for worship, there may be an exchange of Sunday school teachers for some classes, or maybe congregations can join together for a common worship service or maybe a picnic.
Let us make a common, renewed commitment to Camp Krislund. Let us build a camp and holy place dedicated to bringing people together across the dividing walls which separate us.
Let us explore and commit to a new international mission partnership, not as individual congregations but as a presbytery. I encourage your to join me in our Church Leadership Conference in Tegucigalpa this March. This is an excellent experience for pastor’s continuing education.
Let us have more fellowship and fun together. I encourage your participation in our presbytery retreat. I encourage your participation in our Presbytery day at the Harrisburg Senators baseball game this June 28.
Most of all let us continue to be the best Presbytery we can, let us grow the bonds of spiritual connection and mission involvement, let us learn each others names, and preach in each others pulpits, let build on the wonderful gift we have as a presbytery, and together let us discern ways we may share our abundant gifts with the whole church.
January 27, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Ordained Leadership in the Church
A paradigm is an intellectual and mental framework for understanding. I like the concept of paradigm. It helps me realize that the way we think about things, the way we look at things, and our perceptions of reality are flexible and changing. We can, in fact, change our perceptions of reality. We can shift our most essential paradigms of thought.
We need a paradigm shift in the church. We need a paradigm shift, a new way of thinking and conceiving, one of the most essential aspects of the church, our leadership. What does it mean to be a leader in the church? How is leadership expressed? Who are the leaders and how did they become leaders? We need a paradigm shift around this most basic and most important question.
Conventionally, and without must serious reflection, we easily and ordinarily hold onto a paradigm of leadership in our church that we see, participate in, and appreciate in many other areas of our society. We hold onto the idea of leadership as paid professionals. In almost every area of our society leadership is provided and leadership is models by paid professionals. Thus this paradigm has controlled our thinking, and defined our perception about leadership in the church.
We must have a different paradigm for leadership in the church. We need a paradigm shift away from our common, modern social practice with its strong emphasis on paid professionals. We need to understand and claim the biblical paradigm of calling and ordination. The paid professionals are not the leaders in the church. Leadership in the church is expressed by those who have been called and ordained.
It is the power and continuing presence of God’s calling which allows the church to exist and thrive in each new day, each new year and indeed for every generation. God will provide leadership in the church through a spiritual calling which is heard and responded to by faithful people throughout the generations. The Bible story is very clear: Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Mary, Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Peter and John, and the apostle Paul, Timothy and Barnabas. God calls. The Bible is also clear that these are not perfect people. Sarah responds to her call, “Wait a moment Lord, I am a little too old for this.” Moses responds to his call, “Lord, not me, I do not have the qualifications or experience for this job.” Jesus responds, “Take this cup from me.” It is not, in the first place, the qualities and characteristics of the people that is important. All that matters is that God calls. God calls. Down through ages God calls. And here in this holy place, in the midst of all the ambiguity and challenge of being the church in our modern, fast, sophisticated society, God still calls. The still small voice; the quiet spritual nudge; the warm encouragement of a friend which becomes in our heart a divine word; the witness of the community that reaches out beyond itself into our town and around the world; in those words of scripture that settle in our minds with comfort and challenge: God calls. This is the basis, the only basis, for leadership in the church.
In our tradition, with our emphasis on good organization, but also in most every other Christian expression, the call of God into the heart and soul of individual believers is affirmed and confirmed by the gathered community, by the church. God calls, and the church sets these ones apart for leadership. This is our service and celebration of ordination; the setting apart of leaders in the church. God calls and the church sets apart these ones for leadership in the church. This is the paradigm through which we must understand leadership in the church. God calls and the church ordains and these people are set apart for leadership. It is not about paid professionals; is all about the call of God and the affirmation of the church.
Elders and Deacons; stand in your calling. Because of God’s call, and the church’s confirmation of that call in your ordination and installation, you are the leaders of the church. Please be clear about that. Elders and Deacons: you are the leaders of the church.
Deacons, remember the story of the Book of Acts. The church was growing so quickly that God set apart special people for a ministry of compassion. It is this ministry to the least and the lost, the hurting, the alone, and the oppressed that has always been central to God’s desire for the church. In the ministry of our deacons, this calling to care, support, pray, encourage, and serve continues.
Elders: remember our name. This calling is particularly powerful and important in our expression of church. The very word “Presbyterian” is linguistically derived from the New Testament word which is translated into English as “elder.” All through the ages God has called and the church has set apart elders for leadership in the church. Our Presbyterian tradition has particularly emphasized the leadership of elders. Elders, you are called to lead.
In the modern church, we have also discerned a special calling to set some people apart as trustees. Trustees are not an ordained office; but have a vital expression of leadership in our modern churches. The best way to understand our Trustees is analogous to our Deacons. They take some of the load off of the Elders, so the Elders can focus on bringing the whole church into line with God’s call and God’s purpose for your life together.
The ordained leadership of the church is responsible for leading the church. Get out of this paid, profession staff versus volunteer paradigm. That is not the church. The church is about called and ordained leaders – Elders, Deacons and Ministers – together and equally leading the people of God into the purposes of God for this place at this time. And what does this leadership look like? Remember the ordination question: “Will you seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?” That is the leadership we need in the church today. We need leadership that is filled with energy, intelligence, imagination and love. May it be so in this place in the name and to the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
We need a paradigm shift in the church. We need a paradigm shift, a new way of thinking and conceiving, one of the most essential aspects of the church, our leadership. What does it mean to be a leader in the church? How is leadership expressed? Who are the leaders and how did they become leaders? We need a paradigm shift around this most basic and most important question.
Conventionally, and without must serious reflection, we easily and ordinarily hold onto a paradigm of leadership in our church that we see, participate in, and appreciate in many other areas of our society. We hold onto the idea of leadership as paid professionals. In almost every area of our society leadership is provided and leadership is models by paid professionals. Thus this paradigm has controlled our thinking, and defined our perception about leadership in the church.
We must have a different paradigm for leadership in the church. We need a paradigm shift away from our common, modern social practice with its strong emphasis on paid professionals. We need to understand and claim the biblical paradigm of calling and ordination. The paid professionals are not the leaders in the church. Leadership in the church is expressed by those who have been called and ordained.
It is the power and continuing presence of God’s calling which allows the church to exist and thrive in each new day, each new year and indeed for every generation. God will provide leadership in the church through a spiritual calling which is heard and responded to by faithful people throughout the generations. The Bible story is very clear: Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Mary, Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Peter and John, and the apostle Paul, Timothy and Barnabas. God calls. The Bible is also clear that these are not perfect people. Sarah responds to her call, “Wait a moment Lord, I am a little too old for this.” Moses responds to his call, “Lord, not me, I do not have the qualifications or experience for this job.” Jesus responds, “Take this cup from me.” It is not, in the first place, the qualities and characteristics of the people that is important. All that matters is that God calls. God calls. Down through ages God calls. And here in this holy place, in the midst of all the ambiguity and challenge of being the church in our modern, fast, sophisticated society, God still calls. The still small voice; the quiet spritual nudge; the warm encouragement of a friend which becomes in our heart a divine word; the witness of the community that reaches out beyond itself into our town and around the world; in those words of scripture that settle in our minds with comfort and challenge: God calls. This is the basis, the only basis, for leadership in the church.
In our tradition, with our emphasis on good organization, but also in most every other Christian expression, the call of God into the heart and soul of individual believers is affirmed and confirmed by the gathered community, by the church. God calls, and the church sets these ones apart for leadership. This is our service and celebration of ordination; the setting apart of leaders in the church. God calls and the church sets apart these ones for leadership in the church. This is the paradigm through which we must understand leadership in the church. God calls and the church ordains and these people are set apart for leadership. It is not about paid professionals; is all about the call of God and the affirmation of the church.
Elders and Deacons; stand in your calling. Because of God’s call, and the church’s confirmation of that call in your ordination and installation, you are the leaders of the church. Please be clear about that. Elders and Deacons: you are the leaders of the church.
Deacons, remember the story of the Book of Acts. The church was growing so quickly that God set apart special people for a ministry of compassion. It is this ministry to the least and the lost, the hurting, the alone, and the oppressed that has always been central to God’s desire for the church. In the ministry of our deacons, this calling to care, support, pray, encourage, and serve continues.
Elders: remember our name. This calling is particularly powerful and important in our expression of church. The very word “Presbyterian” is linguistically derived from the New Testament word which is translated into English as “elder.” All through the ages God has called and the church has set apart elders for leadership in the church. Our Presbyterian tradition has particularly emphasized the leadership of elders. Elders, you are called to lead.
In the modern church, we have also discerned a special calling to set some people apart as trustees. Trustees are not an ordained office; but have a vital expression of leadership in our modern churches. The best way to understand our Trustees is analogous to our Deacons. They take some of the load off of the Elders, so the Elders can focus on bringing the whole church into line with God’s call and God’s purpose for your life together.
The ordained leadership of the church is responsible for leading the church. Get out of this paid, profession staff versus volunteer paradigm. That is not the church. The church is about called and ordained leaders – Elders, Deacons and Ministers – together and equally leading the people of God into the purposes of God for this place at this time. And what does this leadership look like? Remember the ordination question: “Will you seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?” That is the leadership we need in the church today. We need leadership that is filled with energy, intelligence, imagination and love. May it be so in this place in the name and to the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Report to the Presbytery Nov. 18, 2008
We are all healed in Jesus.
Early on Saturday, October 11 I was making breakfast for our sons, pancakes and scrambled eggs, as usual on a Saturday morning. While cooking I was chatting with both of them as they were sitting at our kitchen table waiting for food. My wife, Kris, came into the kitchen in her bathrobe, fresh out of her morning shower. With a bright smile on her face and in her voice, she said loudly to all of us, “Stop everything; We need to pray. I am done with my tamoxifen. Thank God.” With great ceremony, she slowly pulled open the cabinet which holds our kitchen garbage can, held her hand up high for a moment, and dropped her empty pill bottle into the garbage.
For five years, 60 months, every single day, my wife has dutifully taken her tamoxifen pill. Tamoxifen is a form a chemo-therapy routinely prescribed now as part of the treatment plan for breast cancer. In the summer of 2003, my Kris was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our lives were immediately all tossed up in the air and we landed upside down, bewildered, dizzy and very confused. Her surgery at UPMC’s Magee Women’s hospital in Pittsburgh went “perfectly”; that was the word her surgeon used when he first came out to talk with me in the waiting room. Immediately after surgery eight weeks of outpatient radiation therapy were prescribed. For those weeks, sometimes alone, sometimes with me, sometimes with other friends, Kris made the trip to the hospital for her radiation therapy. And for every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of those eight weeks the church I was serving delivered a full dinner to our home. I challenge you, in your churches, to match that kind of pastoral care.
On the advice of her doctor, after the radiation therapy, Kris started taking tamoxifen for the recommended five years. This past July she went back for her regular appointment with her oncologist. He reviewed her recent mammogram, examined her, then he gave her a big hug and told her that she had “graduated.” She does not need to see her oncologist any more; she is cancer free. Now that last tamoxifen pill is gone also, we are profoundly grateful.
In 2003, when this journey with cancer started, our three sons that year were ages 15, 11 and 3. I remember praying, hard and deep prayers, which I never shared with Kris. I prayed, “Lord, please just give Kris a few more years so we can get these boys a little older before I must take care of them by myself.” Although we always received encouragement, good news and hope, there was always a dark prayer lingering in my heart, expecting that soon cancer would win this fight. But here we are five years later. The empty pill bottle is in the garbage, my dear Kris is cancer free, and we rejoice in the abundant blessings that have been showered on our family.
Everyone responds to these kinds of traumas in life differently. Of course, many, many people do not have the good news which we have had. But everyone can be a part of God’s healing presence. Healing comes from our God in many different ways. I know the journey through breast cancer is very difficult for the women involved. But it is in very significant ways also very difficult for the men, for the husbands and the fathers, and for the children. Of course, it is not our bodies that are involved, but it is our lives. Pastors and church people know all this. Our pastoral care in these situations may be the most important thing we do in the church.
What does it feel like to be healed? What does it feel like to be blessed? By grace, I have had the privilege of walking next to a remarkable woman who has taught me about such things. Healing is always plural. Healing is always shared. Kris is healed, the landmark five year point has been passed. Today’s medical definition of being healed of cancer is real, wonderfully, truly, fabulously real for us. Kris dropped the empty pill bottle in the garbage. So I wanted to share this simple and yet important word with you all from my wife. She believes, as I do also in a new way now, that we are all healed in Jesus Christ.
After dropping the empty pill bottle in the garbage and after Kris led our family in a prayer of thanksgiving, we stood around for a moment chatting, reflecting and eating breakfast. Our now 17 year old son, Michael, asked his mom. “So what does it feel like to have had cancer?” Without hesitation Kris responded, “It has all been a great blessing. We are all healed in Jesus.” Thanks be to God.
Early on Saturday, October 11 I was making breakfast for our sons, pancakes and scrambled eggs, as usual on a Saturday morning. While cooking I was chatting with both of them as they were sitting at our kitchen table waiting for food. My wife, Kris, came into the kitchen in her bathrobe, fresh out of her morning shower. With a bright smile on her face and in her voice, she said loudly to all of us, “Stop everything; We need to pray. I am done with my tamoxifen. Thank God.” With great ceremony, she slowly pulled open the cabinet which holds our kitchen garbage can, held her hand up high for a moment, and dropped her empty pill bottle into the garbage.
For five years, 60 months, every single day, my wife has dutifully taken her tamoxifen pill. Tamoxifen is a form a chemo-therapy routinely prescribed now as part of the treatment plan for breast cancer. In the summer of 2003, my Kris was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our lives were immediately all tossed up in the air and we landed upside down, bewildered, dizzy and very confused. Her surgery at UPMC’s Magee Women’s hospital in Pittsburgh went “perfectly”; that was the word her surgeon used when he first came out to talk with me in the waiting room. Immediately after surgery eight weeks of outpatient radiation therapy were prescribed. For those weeks, sometimes alone, sometimes with me, sometimes with other friends, Kris made the trip to the hospital for her radiation therapy. And for every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of those eight weeks the church I was serving delivered a full dinner to our home. I challenge you, in your churches, to match that kind of pastoral care.
On the advice of her doctor, after the radiation therapy, Kris started taking tamoxifen for the recommended five years. This past July she went back for her regular appointment with her oncologist. He reviewed her recent mammogram, examined her, then he gave her a big hug and told her that she had “graduated.” She does not need to see her oncologist any more; she is cancer free. Now that last tamoxifen pill is gone also, we are profoundly grateful.
In 2003, when this journey with cancer started, our three sons that year were ages 15, 11 and 3. I remember praying, hard and deep prayers, which I never shared with Kris. I prayed, “Lord, please just give Kris a few more years so we can get these boys a little older before I must take care of them by myself.” Although we always received encouragement, good news and hope, there was always a dark prayer lingering in my heart, expecting that soon cancer would win this fight. But here we are five years later. The empty pill bottle is in the garbage, my dear Kris is cancer free, and we rejoice in the abundant blessings that have been showered on our family.
Everyone responds to these kinds of traumas in life differently. Of course, many, many people do not have the good news which we have had. But everyone can be a part of God’s healing presence. Healing comes from our God in many different ways. I know the journey through breast cancer is very difficult for the women involved. But it is in very significant ways also very difficult for the men, for the husbands and the fathers, and for the children. Of course, it is not our bodies that are involved, but it is our lives. Pastors and church people know all this. Our pastoral care in these situations may be the most important thing we do in the church.
What does it feel like to be healed? What does it feel like to be blessed? By grace, I have had the privilege of walking next to a remarkable woman who has taught me about such things. Healing is always plural. Healing is always shared. Kris is healed, the landmark five year point has been passed. Today’s medical definition of being healed of cancer is real, wonderfully, truly, fabulously real for us. Kris dropped the empty pill bottle in the garbage. So I wanted to share this simple and yet important word with you all from my wife. She believes, as I do also in a new way now, that we are all healed in Jesus Christ.
After dropping the empty pill bottle in the garbage and after Kris led our family in a prayer of thanksgiving, we stood around for a moment chatting, reflecting and eating breakfast. Our now 17 year old son, Michael, asked his mom. “So what does it feel like to have had cancer?” Without hesitation Kris responded, “It has all been a great blessing. We are all healed in Jesus.” Thanks be to God.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Pretending to be a Missionary
Pretending to be a Missionary.
The young person is stellar and active. The congregation rejoices in having such a gifted young person in their midst. Years of Sunday school classes, Christmas pageants, Palm Sunday processionals, praise worship services and youth group activities roll by. Graduation from high school is celebrated and the young person is off to a prominent university to study, learn and grow. The young person always reconnects with the congregation during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, and now and again during summer time vacations. The congregation learns of the gifted young person’s graduation from the university with an outstanding degree and a minor course of study in Spanish, or Chinese, or African studies. Soon the letters start arriving at the homes of leading church members. The young person is seeking support so they may spend two weeks or twelve months in a far off, foreign land serving as a missionary. These days such short term mission service is typically connected with some para-church mission organization that specializes in such opportunities for young people. Of course, leading church members who have watched this young person grow up in their church are eager to send $100 to support the cause. One of the active Elders pushes such support even higher and asks the session to support the effort. Soon this young person’s noble journey of discovery serving on a short term mission experience is one of the mission causes of their home congregation. The young person’s photograph standing in the midst of a group of children in some far off land is posted on the church’s bulletin board. Everyone is happy supporting this young person as part of the mission work of the congregation. Indeed, this work is appreciated by all.
I tell this story in a sort of generic sense because I know many Presbyterians can fill in the details. This is a story that can be replicated countless times across the congregations in our church. I can easily tell this same story in a very personal sense about our own son who is now 20 years old. Although his life is on track with purposeful plans and direction, he also loves to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed, the church he grew up in is always eager to support his missionary endeavors. Already he has been to Malawi, to Peru doing evangelism to an unreached people, and this month the letters will be sent out seeking support for his scheduled trip to Uganda where he will be involved with a short-term ministry to children. Let us be clear. Our young people and their short term mission experiences, which we love to support in our churches, are not about mission service. These experiences are about the personal, spiritual and emotional development of these young people whom, indeed, we should support and nurture. These experiences, especially in support of young people we know and love in our own congregations, are important and worthy. But we should not confuse these experiences with mission work. Pretending to be a missionary for a week or a year is not the same thing as long-term, sustained, professional mission service. Within the push and pull for resources within our congregations it would be more correct to name our support for our young people doing mission trips as Christian education, rather that mission work.
Here comes the rub. Especially within our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) our commitment to long term, sustained mission service is suffering because of the redirection of our attention and resources toward supporting short-term mission experiences. Indeed we have taken our eye off the prize when it comes to our church’s mission service. It may be convincingly argued that the greatest legacy and the most important heritage in our American Presbyterian tradition is our world mission work. Presbyterians were at the forefront of the world mission movement 150 years ago, and this work defines our worldview and theological foundations more than anything else. In my opinion, this legacy of world mission is so powerful in our church that it is, itself, the source of the new energy to do mission trips and seek out short term mission experiences. But this energy has exploded in some unhealthy ways. In previous generations of Presbyterians this deep calling to be engaged in world mission was expressed through a robust commitment to recruiting, equipping, and sending out long-term professional missionaries on behalf of the whole church. These career missionaries were the servants of our church serving the larger world. We still have in place through our World Mission office a comprehensive infrastructure to support, equip and send out long term missionaries on our behalf. But we have recently allowed this long term commitment to fall off because of our lack of a mature and deep theological understanding of mission.
An analogy is appropriate here. Within the life of our church we have created a very comprehensive infrastructure of pastoral support and evaluation through the work of each Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry. We have a very sophisticated understanding of the relationship between a pastor and a congregation which we test, discern, evaluate and equip. We do not allow any person in the church, or walking in off the street, to preach in our pulpits, celebrate our sacraments or moderate our session meetings. We have a sophisticated, theologically grounded and a highly functioning polity for sanctioning and supporting the relationship of a pastor and congregation. All of our churches expect this of themselves, of their pastors and of our presbyteries. The Presbyterian Church is very good at this kind of theologically grounded polity. In our churches we are deeply committed to the vision of the called, theologically rooted and equipped pastor whose relationship with a congregation is very carefully discerned and evaluated. We must have the same commitment in our world mission work. For a church that has such high expectations for our pastors, why are we not expecting the same thing of our missionaries? But it seems as if we allow anyone to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed they are often sent out with our blessing and financial support, and quite often a very poor grounding in any theology of mission. Why have we allowed our world mission work to be taken over by our obsession with short-term, unequipped, unconnected enthusiasm which often functions without language and cultural training? This enthusiasm is seldom equipped to understand what God may be doing in and through a different culture.
What should we do?
· Renew our commitment to long-term, sustained, professional missionaries who are trained and equipped by the church and sent out on behalf of the whole church. Support Presbyterian world mission.
· Develop a holistic theology of mission which moves beyond the American arrogance which presumes we can fix the world’s problems, and expects everyone in the world to “do church” just like us.
· Encourage and support our young people in their own spiritual development by encouraging mission trips and experiences in different Christian cultures. But this support must be more than financial. We must provide our young people with a robust Christian education that seeks to discern what God is doing in the world, and especially in people, cultures and churches very different from our own. We must, by word and deed, help our children to be global Christians.
· Do not do it alone. Connect people together, connect churches together and strive to create bridges across cultural divides.
The young person is stellar and active. The congregation rejoices in having such a gifted young person in their midst. Years of Sunday school classes, Christmas pageants, Palm Sunday processionals, praise worship services and youth group activities roll by. Graduation from high school is celebrated and the young person is off to a prominent university to study, learn and grow. The young person always reconnects with the congregation during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, and now and again during summer time vacations. The congregation learns of the gifted young person’s graduation from the university with an outstanding degree and a minor course of study in Spanish, or Chinese, or African studies. Soon the letters start arriving at the homes of leading church members. The young person is seeking support so they may spend two weeks or twelve months in a far off, foreign land serving as a missionary. These days such short term mission service is typically connected with some para-church mission organization that specializes in such opportunities for young people. Of course, leading church members who have watched this young person grow up in their church are eager to send $100 to support the cause. One of the active Elders pushes such support even higher and asks the session to support the effort. Soon this young person’s noble journey of discovery serving on a short term mission experience is one of the mission causes of their home congregation. The young person’s photograph standing in the midst of a group of children in some far off land is posted on the church’s bulletin board. Everyone is happy supporting this young person as part of the mission work of the congregation. Indeed, this work is appreciated by all.
I tell this story in a sort of generic sense because I know many Presbyterians can fill in the details. This is a story that can be replicated countless times across the congregations in our church. I can easily tell this same story in a very personal sense about our own son who is now 20 years old. Although his life is on track with purposeful plans and direction, he also loves to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed, the church he grew up in is always eager to support his missionary endeavors. Already he has been to Malawi, to Peru doing evangelism to an unreached people, and this month the letters will be sent out seeking support for his scheduled trip to Uganda where he will be involved with a short-term ministry to children. Let us be clear. Our young people and their short term mission experiences, which we love to support in our churches, are not about mission service. These experiences are about the personal, spiritual and emotional development of these young people whom, indeed, we should support and nurture. These experiences, especially in support of young people we know and love in our own congregations, are important and worthy. But we should not confuse these experiences with mission work. Pretending to be a missionary for a week or a year is not the same thing as long-term, sustained, professional mission service. Within the push and pull for resources within our congregations it would be more correct to name our support for our young people doing mission trips as Christian education, rather that mission work.
Here comes the rub. Especially within our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) our commitment to long term, sustained mission service is suffering because of the redirection of our attention and resources toward supporting short-term mission experiences. Indeed we have taken our eye off the prize when it comes to our church’s mission service. It may be convincingly argued that the greatest legacy and the most important heritage in our American Presbyterian tradition is our world mission work. Presbyterians were at the forefront of the world mission movement 150 years ago, and this work defines our worldview and theological foundations more than anything else. In my opinion, this legacy of world mission is so powerful in our church that it is, itself, the source of the new energy to do mission trips and seek out short term mission experiences. But this energy has exploded in some unhealthy ways. In previous generations of Presbyterians this deep calling to be engaged in world mission was expressed through a robust commitment to recruiting, equipping, and sending out long-term professional missionaries on behalf of the whole church. These career missionaries were the servants of our church serving the larger world. We still have in place through our World Mission office a comprehensive infrastructure to support, equip and send out long term missionaries on our behalf. But we have recently allowed this long term commitment to fall off because of our lack of a mature and deep theological understanding of mission.
An analogy is appropriate here. Within the life of our church we have created a very comprehensive infrastructure of pastoral support and evaluation through the work of each Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry. We have a very sophisticated understanding of the relationship between a pastor and a congregation which we test, discern, evaluate and equip. We do not allow any person in the church, or walking in off the street, to preach in our pulpits, celebrate our sacraments or moderate our session meetings. We have a sophisticated, theologically grounded and a highly functioning polity for sanctioning and supporting the relationship of a pastor and congregation. All of our churches expect this of themselves, of their pastors and of our presbyteries. The Presbyterian Church is very good at this kind of theologically grounded polity. In our churches we are deeply committed to the vision of the called, theologically rooted and equipped pastor whose relationship with a congregation is very carefully discerned and evaluated. We must have the same commitment in our world mission work. For a church that has such high expectations for our pastors, why are we not expecting the same thing of our missionaries? But it seems as if we allow anyone to pretend to be a missionary. Indeed they are often sent out with our blessing and financial support, and quite often a very poor grounding in any theology of mission. Why have we allowed our world mission work to be taken over by our obsession with short-term, unequipped, unconnected enthusiasm which often functions without language and cultural training? This enthusiasm is seldom equipped to understand what God may be doing in and through a different culture.
What should we do?
· Renew our commitment to long-term, sustained, professional missionaries who are trained and equipped by the church and sent out on behalf of the whole church. Support Presbyterian world mission.
· Develop a holistic theology of mission which moves beyond the American arrogance which presumes we can fix the world’s problems, and expects everyone in the world to “do church” just like us.
· Encourage and support our young people in their own spiritual development by encouraging mission trips and experiences in different Christian cultures. But this support must be more than financial. We must provide our young people with a robust Christian education that seeks to discern what God is doing in the world, and especially in people, cultures and churches very different from our own. We must, by word and deed, help our children to be global Christians.
· Do not do it alone. Connect people together, connect churches together and strive to create bridges across cultural divides.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Mission Networks in the PC(USA)
Did you know that the Presbyterian Church in Madagascar has more members than our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? Did you know that we have a close working partnership with two different Presbyterian Churches in Ghana: the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana? Did you know about the efforts of American Presbyterians to establish relations with the emerging house churches, many of which include people with a Reformed and Presbyterian background, in all the “stan” countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)? Did you know there are new efforts to connect our church with the peacebuilding efforts which have been bearing fruit in Ireland for many years, through the work of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland? Did you know about the longstanding effort of American Presbyterians to stand with our brothers and sisters in Columbia against the violence in that nation? Our Columbia Mission Network, in a powerful ministry of compassion, has provided for the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Columbia when he, his wife and young children needed to leave Columbia because of the death threats received in response to their Christian witness? Did you know that because of the influence and support of American Presbyterians, the Presbyterian Church in Honduras, after years of effort, has finally had their legal petitions with the government, which is dominated by Roman Catholic officials, approved. Now the Presbyterian Church has official standing as a religious organization in Honduras. This means, for the first time, that the Presbyterian congregations in Honduras are able to legally own their church buildings and property. Given the lack of social infrastructure in Haiti, do you know about the incessantly difficult work which American Presbyterians are doing to bring a long-term, sustainable, mission effort to that poor country? Did you know, after generations of conflict and war, the church is emerging with amazing life and vitality in Vietnam and Laos and that American Presbyterians are partnering with those congregations? All of this work is being carried and supported by the burgeoning, new Mission Networks of our Church.
There are now thirty three Mission Networks in our church working closely with our World Mission office and spanning the globe. Do you know about this new movement in Presbyterian World Mission? We were all together for what was only the second official gathering of Mission Networks for several, strategic days in September. Hosted by Hunter Farrell, the Director of World Mission and all of the Mission Area Coordinators from around the world, each one of our mission networks participated in this gathering. The energy, vision and commitment of the more than sixty people gathered at our Mission Network conference was remarkable. The images and stories of mission work from around the world breathes life into this dry definition of Mission Networks taken from our World Mission website:
“Mission Networks bring together Presbyterians from around the United States who share a common international mission focus. World Mission Networks facilitate building and maintaining healthy partnerships, and provide a place for representatives of various PC(USA) partnerships to share information and coordinate their efforts. Each Mission Network centers around a specific country, people group or program area of ministry, and is composed of Presbyterians who represent international mission partnerships established through their synods, presbyteries, congregations, or other PC(USA) entities.”
The Mission Network movement is clearly the way forward in Presbyterian World Mission. This movement responds to the fact that the locus for World Mission has undeniably shifted to our congregations and presbyteries, who are doing mission on their own by sending out short term mission teams. The Mission Network movement is an effort to harness and connect those congregational efforts. When we learn some of the horror stories of poorly planned and unconnected mission trips the importance of our Mission Networks is clear. When we learn of two different Presbyterian congregations bringing large, medical mission teams to the same foreign medical clinic the same week, we understand the important of Mission Networks. We learn of the small, Presbyterian Church in a nation in Africa that could not handle the repeated requests from different American congregations to host their mission trips. Thus the different American teams were asked to paint the same wall in the same public school four weeks in a row and we see the need for Mission Networks. When we learn about the social scientific research of Dr. Robert Priest at Trinity Evangelical Seminary about short term mission trips we see the need for Mission Networks. Dr. Priest’s research concludes that short term mission trips have very little long term transformative power in the lives of participants if these experiences are not surrounded by very intentional support, reflection and nurture both before and particularly after the experience.
The Mission Network movement is an effort to connect all the enthusiasm and passion for mission, which is expressed in congregations doing mission trips, with the Presbyterian Church’s historic commitment to deep, long-term, sustainable mission work with Christian partners around the world. Mission Networks connect the long-term, mature, sustainable model of mission which grounds the work of our professional mission co-workers with the short-term, local, enthusiasm of mission trips. Most important, the Mission Networks may be the best connection between our congregations and the World Mission office. There is a new spirit of collaboration, partnership and mutually blowing through our General Assembly, and particularly embodied in the new team, under the leadership of Dr. Hunter Farrell, now assembled to lead the World Mission office. This spirit is very evident in the growth and support given to our Mission Networks. We have received and we stand in a glorious heritage of Presbyterian world mission. Get involved! Support World Mission!
There are now thirty three Mission Networks in our church working closely with our World Mission office and spanning the globe. Do you know about this new movement in Presbyterian World Mission? We were all together for what was only the second official gathering of Mission Networks for several, strategic days in September. Hosted by Hunter Farrell, the Director of World Mission and all of the Mission Area Coordinators from around the world, each one of our mission networks participated in this gathering. The energy, vision and commitment of the more than sixty people gathered at our Mission Network conference was remarkable. The images and stories of mission work from around the world breathes life into this dry definition of Mission Networks taken from our World Mission website:
“Mission Networks bring together Presbyterians from around the United States who share a common international mission focus. World Mission Networks facilitate building and maintaining healthy partnerships, and provide a place for representatives of various PC(USA) partnerships to share information and coordinate their efforts. Each Mission Network centers around a specific country, people group or program area of ministry, and is composed of Presbyterians who represent international mission partnerships established through their synods, presbyteries, congregations, or other PC(USA) entities.”
The Mission Network movement is clearly the way forward in Presbyterian World Mission. This movement responds to the fact that the locus for World Mission has undeniably shifted to our congregations and presbyteries, who are doing mission on their own by sending out short term mission teams. The Mission Network movement is an effort to harness and connect those congregational efforts. When we learn some of the horror stories of poorly planned and unconnected mission trips the importance of our Mission Networks is clear. When we learn of two different Presbyterian congregations bringing large, medical mission teams to the same foreign medical clinic the same week, we understand the important of Mission Networks. We learn of the small, Presbyterian Church in a nation in Africa that could not handle the repeated requests from different American congregations to host their mission trips. Thus the different American teams were asked to paint the same wall in the same public school four weeks in a row and we see the need for Mission Networks. When we learn about the social scientific research of Dr. Robert Priest at Trinity Evangelical Seminary about short term mission trips we see the need for Mission Networks. Dr. Priest’s research concludes that short term mission trips have very little long term transformative power in the lives of participants if these experiences are not surrounded by very intentional support, reflection and nurture both before and particularly after the experience.
The Mission Network movement is an effort to connect all the enthusiasm and passion for mission, which is expressed in congregations doing mission trips, with the Presbyterian Church’s historic commitment to deep, long-term, sustainable mission work with Christian partners around the world. Mission Networks connect the long-term, mature, sustainable model of mission which grounds the work of our professional mission co-workers with the short-term, local, enthusiasm of mission trips. Most important, the Mission Networks may be the best connection between our congregations and the World Mission office. There is a new spirit of collaboration, partnership and mutually blowing through our General Assembly, and particularly embodied in the new team, under the leadership of Dr. Hunter Farrell, now assembled to lead the World Mission office. This spirit is very evident in the growth and support given to our Mission Networks. We have received and we stand in a glorious heritage of Presbyterian world mission. Get involved! Support World Mission!
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