2013 Fall Polity Conference + Day One.

            This year’s conference is in Detroit, a city under a dictatorship imposed by the Governor.  Why is it that when a city goes broke it is the banks, not the people who actually did the work, who get reimbursed?  As I write this a story comes on the news about retired city workers having their health care benefits slashed as part of the austerity that is supposed to save the city.  It is, of course, only the poor and the workers who get this dubious “salvation”.    

            None of this is at all apparent when one arrives here at the spectacular Renaissance Center, where stands the luxury hotel hosting this event.  For a denomination with such breathtaking money problems we still manage routinely to install ourselves into places Jesus wouldn’t be caught dead in, facilities where Herod or Pilate or Caesar would be more at home than the Lord.

            Anyway, we began with worship, and a sermon by Gradye Parsons, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly.  Gradye chose an odd selection of texts, starting with Isaiah 7, where the prophet encourages King Ahaz to stand firm while under attack by two other kings, Reza and Pekah.  “Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, ‘Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.’  But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.’”

            (Gradye began by recounting the larger context of how the kingdom of David and Solomon got split into two.  I’m not sure why.  We all know the story.  Was he trying to advise is to listen to the wise elders as opposed to the hot-headed young men?  I hardly think we got where we are as a denomination because we listened too much to young people.)

            Gradye concentrated on Ahaz’ refusal to ask the Lord for a sign.  Ahaz was probably justifiably afraid of what the Lord might say.  But Isaiah wanted to share a hopeful and positive word from the Lord.  (Eventually, the prophet shares the sign from God anyway: it is the famous “Behold, a virgin will conceive” passage, predicting the defeat and disappearance of the two threatening powers.)

            Then he moved to Revelation 21, where John of Patmos recounts part of his vision: “Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.’”  God says, “It is done.”  But Gradye wondered if our sign is precisely that it is not done.  That is, presumably, given the context of his remarks, the ministry of this denomination.  It is not done.

            This is what Isaiah had to say to Ahaz.  Judah is not done.  Someday it will be done, as John foresaw.  But we have to “live into” Isaiah’s vision as it is being fulfilled. 

            I get his point.  This is a time in our history when Presbyterians need to hear that we are not finished, irrelevant, washed-up, and over.  Instead of living in a fear of the future based the recent past, like Ahaz, let’s remember what God is building and see ourselves as part of that.

            After worship, Gradye gave a brief State of the Church message, reporting that 62 congregations have left our communion so far in 2013.  Frankly, I thought this would be much worse, given the hype.  Then he accentuated the positive: the Youth Triennium last summer was a triumph.  He is finding that people are hungry to be challenged to do more than attend meetings.  We have sold an amazing 240K copies of the new hymnal.  We are serving many people beyond ourselves.

            He asked, “What does it mean to be in covenantal relationship with each other?”  We have to think of our connectedness as “more symbiotic than transactional.”  In other words, we should cultivate relationships built on mutual support and nourishment, rather than the cold calculus of exchange.

            The keynote presentation was given by Corey Schlosser-Hall, the Executive in the North Puget Sound Presbytery.  Corey started by proclaiming this an exciting time to be in mid-Council ministry, and proposing that we shape the emotional climate to make this time fruitful.  He used the image of a “convergence zone” where two or more different streams are coming together.  It is like the meeting of two weather systems or the confluence of rivers.  We have to choose which flow to go with.  What kind of leadership will shape and guide our mid-Councils?

            We need to shape an ecosystem for aspiration.  In other words, we need to shape our life together according to where we want to go…

            …As opposed to where we have been, which is a major distraction for Presbyterians.  Rather than wallow in grief for what we once were, how about realizing that what we have now is worth choosing.  Corey quoted someone to the effect that “complaining is stupid; either act or forget.”  Reminds me of Yoda. 

            Corey favors cultivating the “big, pragmatic, moderate middle” of the church.  “We can be a beacon of hope if we could only get over ourselves.”

            He has a different experience of the middle than I do; my perception of the middle is a very depressed and recalcitrant place, where everyone is keeping their head down, cherishing memories of the good old days.  But maybe that’s unique to me.

            Corey wants us to intentionally choose a different stream than that of stress.  We should get together and throw a party to celebrate those who are taking risks for mission.  I think he’s right.  But more often we throw the book at such people.  I’m just saying.

            The theme of building mid-Councils into aspirational ecosystems was central to Corey’s remarks.  His talk was punctuated by the music of U2.  One song says “what you don’t have you don’t need it now.”  We should not be waiting for the answer to come form somewhere else.  Rather there is a posture, an attitude, an orientation – habits of mind and heart – that we would do well to develop and feed.  It is about facing the future.  Aspiration is imitation-worthy, he said, touching on a mimetic note.  We have to be a part of whatever God is calling us into.  Decline and negativity only create more decline and negativity.

            Corey asked about how often we are “playing offense,” meaning taking the good news to the world, as contrasted with sitting deep in our own territory and withstanding the world’s assault.

            After the break he got on even more of a roll.  Often the shoots of new growth don’t fit.  Innovation, by definition, doesn’t fit.  Listen to what is happening on the fringes. 

            Okay, we were in the broad middle, now we’re on the fringes.  I agree with him on the latter; our answers are going to come from unlikely places and people; that’s the gospel; that’s where positive change comes from in the New Testament.  Corey rhetorically asked if anything generative can come out of a committee – and he actually got a few people to say yes to this.  But most such initiatives do not grow out of our present structures, which are more designed to preserve and maintain (verbs pervading the Great Ends of the Church, btw). 

            Rather, exciting stuff emerges from individuals and unstructured gatherings and friendships.  Often they break in from the outside.  And we try to make it fit, which can kill them.

            Somehow we have to nurture a “mixed economy” of ministry.  Our present “congregational” model is only about 150 years old; different forms of the church have to be cultivated today.  He gave the example of the “Fresh Expressions” movement in the UK.  We can’t assume that the inherited forms are the only forms for he future.  We need more experimentation.  “How courageous does your presbytery encourage people to be?”

            A good question.  Having attended this meeting for 14 years, I can say that  a presentation like Corey’s would have been unthinkable not too long ago.  Presbyteries encouraged people and churches to be anything but courageous.  It was always more about fitting into the inherited box, defined by our polity, bureaucracy, and theology.  Fortunately, this has changed.  But how much has it changed back home?  Are there actually presbyteries that encourage courage?  Where courageous innovators don’t have to keep their heads down, stay under the radar, and keep out of the sight of the rules guys?  Maybe.

            What keeps us from aspiring?  Corey focused on shame, which I thought was interesting.  Is there something about us that just isn’t worthy?  What if we don’t get it “right”?  What if we fail?  Failure is shameful.

            Corey quoted a writer named Bernay Brown.  “The whole-hearted believe they are worthy of living that way.”  It is like the willingness of a person to say “I love you” first, not knowing the response or how it is going to turn out.  God is telling us, “I got this.”

            All in all, Corey is telling us a lot of what we have heard before about getting the church out of its Titanic mode.               

The Ministry of Members.

            I have heard some basic and common misconceptions about church membership.  They all have at least one thing in common: they are all self-serving strategies for avoiding the demands of actual discipleship

            First is the idea that “Jesus did it all for me, therefore I don’t have to do anything.”  It is true that our life in the faith is based on what Jesus did and taught, and that Jesus does reconcile us to God and manifest the resurrection.  But this truth, far from exempting us from any responsibility, positively demands a response from us.  Jesus is always instructing his disciples to keep his commandments.  He gives them a new way to live and empowers them to live that way in his new community of those whom he calls. 

            This is so ridiculously obvious that I shouldn’t even have to mention it.  Unfortunately, I have heard this argument made more than I care to remember from people claiming to be Christians.  And even people who know better than to make the argument, often act this way.  More sophisticated Christians might even piously claim that the idea that people have a responsibility to respond to Jesus by changing their behavior is “works righteousness,” which is supposed to be a really bad thing.  But that could only be true if we were trying to earn our salvation from God as a reward for our good behavior.  In reality, the disciple responds in trust, obedience, and thanksgiving to what Jesus has already done.

            The second misconception is that our religious life is somehow separate and isolated from every other part of our life, so that what we do and say in church has no relationship to how we act in our family, work, educational, economic, or political life.  This would be to import the secular principle of the separation of church and State into the life of the disciple, and hold to a kind of separation of our spirituality from our secular life.  In reality, the correct term for such a separation is hypocrisy, and it is one of the more destructive things non-Christians see when they look at us.  We say nice things in church, but the rest of the time we are pervaded by bigotry, narrow-mindedness, violence, greed, and self-centeredness.  The truth is that there is no such thing as the “secular” or worldly life distinct from our religious or spiritual commitments.  Everything we do, whether it is in the workplace, the classroom, the shopping mall, the voting booth, or on the Garden State Parkway, is an expression of our discipleship of Jesus Christ.

            Finally, the third misconception is that the church has hired professionals to be responsible for religion and spirituality on the people’s behalf, once again exempting members from many of the demands of discipleship.  It is the paid professional who does all the praying, Scripture study, visitation, meeting leadership, evangelism, and so forth.  They have the specialized training and the members pay her or him to do these things for them.  Once again, even if this view is not always articulated verbally, it is evident from the way people act.

            If we manage to divest ourselves of these three misconceptions, what we are left with is an opening to Jesus’ actual teachings about discipleship.  That is, that discipleship extends into and embraces one’s entire life.

            The Presbyterian Book of Order begins the Form of Government section with a chapter on the local congregation.  This in itself is significant.  It recognizes that the congregation is the primary place where God’s mission happens.  In other words, congregations do not exist to support the mission of the national denomination, as was thought during the dark days of the “corporate” church in the mid-twentieth century.

            Then the chapter continues, and includes a summary of what is expected from every member of a church.  Not just the pastor, or the elders and deacons, everyone.  It is found in G-1.0304.

      1.    Proclaiming the good news in word and deed. 

            This doesn’t necessarily mean actually preaching sermons; we proclaim the good news by exhibiting forgiveness, empathy, non-violence, patience, and love in our lives.  As St. Francis taught his brothers, “Preach the gospel; if necessary, use words.”  Our actions and behavior have to “preach.”  That is how the good news of God’s love for the world gets communicated.

      2.     Taking part in the common life and worship of a congregation. 

            Members are expected to show up according to their ability.  A few times a year doesn’t cut it.  Even if they attend worship every week, disciples are not spectators.  We are all participants.  Fortunately, many churches are moving away from the model where everything is done by one person up front, at most backed up by some musicians.  They are opening up even the planning of worship and mission to include the participants in the community.

      3.    Lifting up one another in prayer, mutual concern, and active support. 

            This is not just the job of the pastor, elders, and deacons; everyone is expected to pray for each other, and concerns in the wider world, regularly.  Presbyterians most certainly are not proficient at prayer these days.  Often it is reduced to giving God a to-do list.  But prayer has to be the center of our life together; and we have to explore its deeper dimensions: silence and listening for God.

      4.    Studying Scripture and the issues of Christian faith and life. 

            Neither is this something relegated solely to the professionals.  Each member should be in daily contact with the Word of God by reading Scripture and other books, and in conversation with other disciples. 

      5.    Supporting the ministry of the church through the giving of money, time, and talents. 

            That’s time, money, and (not “or”) talents.  As a symbolic statement we disciples should be giving at least as much of our money, time, and talent as we give to various kinds of entertainment.  Otherwise, what’s the point?  Discipleship is not a hobby we do in our spare time.

      6.    Demonstrating a new quality of life in and through the church. 

            The gathering of disciples is intended to function as a training center (a Japanese word is dojo) for discipleship, where we encounter Jesus’ life and teachings, and explore ways of more effectively reflecting and expressing the good news in our lives.

      7.    Responding to God’s activity in the world through service to others. 

            Someone once said that Christian faith is other people, meaning that serving people in need is almost identical to discipleship.  Check out Jesus’ famous words on the subject in Matthew 25:31-46.

      8.    Living responsibly in the personal, family, vocational, political, cultural, and social relationships of life. 

            “Responsibly” means in response to the demands of Jesus in imitation of his life of healing, empowerment, blessing, peace, and goodness.

9.    Working in the world for peace, justice, freedom, and human fulfillment.

            Discipleship is not just something we do as individuals, or even simply in community.  It also extends to witnessing to larger political and economic systems in the world.  Helping individuals is important; changing systems that oppress people on a large, even global, scale is also fundamental to discipleship.  This is particularly the case for disciples who are blessed to live in a democracy where the people have a voice in civil decisions.  Our voices and choices, right down to what we buy and how we manage our work and home lives, make a difference in how the world works.

      10. Participating in the governing responsibilities of the church.

            The Presbyterian church is not a monarchy or oligarchy; we do not assign power exclusively to one person or class of people, not even presbyters.  Every member’s voice is valued and required for the gathering to move faithfully forward.  God calls us through the community to serve in leadership.  This cannot be left to a small group of perennial volunteers.

      11. Reviewing and evaluating regularly the integrity of one’s membership, and considering ways in which one’s participation in the worship and service of the church may be increased and made more meaningful. 

            It is a continual task of discipleship to be improving and deepening our trust of the Lord Jesus.  We are never finished in this mortal existence.  We are often called to let go of old ways that may have become ineffective, and take on new modes of discipleship that better express the good news in a new and different time and place.

+++++++

              

            

"Life or Death?"

            Over the coming year, our presbytery is going to be looking at six basic questions from Paul Nixon’s book, I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church.  In the introduction, Nixon makes the case for apostolic leadership in the church.  By that he means that leaders know themselves to be sent into the world with good news, based on a real and personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

            Nixon suggests that even social-justice liberals have had such experiences, but usually frame them differently.  His example is of the pastor who, upon reflection, remembered a seminal encounter with a homeless person in which she saw Jesus’ face.

            It is really crucial that we realize the living of Presence of Jesus Christ with, within, and among us.  He is, of course.  But often we are not in the habit of specifically identifying him.  When we prayerfully consider our story, it occurs to us that there are many ways in which we experience the powerful Presence of the Lord, that he was and is with us all along.

            I hope we pay close attention to this point as we discuss Nixon’s book.  Everything else he goes on to say is built on his idea of apostolicity rooted in a direct encounter with the living Lord.

            For instance, the first of the six choices before the church may be the post important: Life or death?  In many ways churches today are choosing to die.  Usually this is done unconsciously.  When we dissolve into nostalgia about the way things used to be, and fervently wish for nothing else than that those days return, we are effectively choosing to die.  When we treat the church like a social club, or an institution that must be maintained at all costs, we are choosing to die.  When we pick the wrong side of any of Nixon’s choices – isolation, drudgery, mildness, being a fortress, and procrastination – we are actually expressing our first choice, which is death instead of life.

            And life, from an apostolic mindset, is identified as the life we receive in Jesus Christ.  I distinguish this kind of life from the counterfeit excuse for life that is imposed upon us by the Empire.  That would be “life” as measured by secular, quantitative categories.  In informal parlance, these categories are summed up as the 3-B’s: butts, bucks, and bricks, that is, membership, money, and buildings.  A church that is evaluating its ministry in terms of these things is not following Jesus.  For nowhere does Jesus give any positive attention at all to the 3-B’s.  A church that follows them is living according to the Empire’s model for “success.”  Nowhere does Jesus ever even ask the question, “What can we afford?” in these terms, let alone use such a question as a basis for action.

            In his chapter on this choice, Nixon basically says that a pastor should locate and cultivate in the congregation those who have vision, energy, and passion for ministry.  On the other hand, those who make themselves drags and roadblocks, should be tended to pastorally, but not permitted to set the church’s agenda.  While Nixon seems to allow that this will be difficult, he does not really go into the possible, if not likely, consequences of this strategy.  The people who effectively choose death, who are not the “vision shareholders,” who are often the majority, may withhold their support from the church.  If we are talking about a small church with little or no endowment, this may mean the church will have trouble paying its bills.  And if those people are so angry as to leave, we are left with a severe deficit in at least 2 of the 3-B’s, with the third in jeopardy.

            Nixon does not talk about how to handle this.  He seems to assume these dead-weight-members can be charmed into participation.  He does not address what happens when a church that has taken his advice goes to a judicatory for assistance, and all the judicatory sees is membership and income dropping off a cliff.  I know for a fact that many judicatories will write off such a church as a “failure,” and refuse to “throw more money at” it.  What normally ensues is part-time ministry, which is often the death-knell for a congregation that has not yet been equipped with strong leadership.

            Churches know all this, at least intuitively.  Which is why so few are willing to take Nixon’s advice.  Even with a visionary, apostolic pastor, everyone knows that losing a large percentage of a church’s members, or their support, even if it is necessary to set free a newly arising missional leadership group, will attract, well, vultures.  (This is especially the case in polities where the assets of a closed church go to the judicatory.  I know of judicatories that use assets so acquired to keep the assessments on churches low, thus further incentivizing the closing of churches!)

            Clearly, the regional denominational bodies must catch the vision and support risky, innovative, out-of-the box ministries in churches.  They have to be willing to accept sometimes massive membership losses in churches, before and as a condition of those churches turning around.  (See my blog-post, “Small Enough to Grow, at www.raxweblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/small-enough-to-grow.html.)

            I hope and pray that our presbytery, in grappling with the principles in this book will lead us to new ways of thinking and acting that reflect and express the apostolicity of leadership in the church.  I hope we can encourage and empower local churches to take Nixon’s advice without fear of abandonment.

+++++++