Today’s news was the announcement that the New Reformed Body (NRB) has a new name: the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO). It’s going to take a while to process what ECO will be and exactly how it will be. Those charged with it’s creation are certainly pleased with their work. Those who are looking for something new are possibly excited.
As for me I am absolutely baffled. The proposal sounds great in the big conference room in Orlando but will it really “play” back home. I haven’t heard anything new that would warrant a new ECO-system. Everything leads me to believe that we need to be actively engaged in working on the ecosystem we already have.
We need pastors and elders who take responsibility for their vocation; who own that the place the PCUSA finds itself in is not the institution’s doing, it is our doing. I say “our” because I am part of the ecosystem.
We need church members who want to be students of scripture and theology and polity and confessions and not the beneficiaries of gimmicky entertainment programs.
A new ECO-system will not solve the concerns that the Fellowship group has raised. It will not suddenly make a “deathly ill” denomination healthy. The commitment of individuals to work on the issues of leader training, education and nurture, and proclaiming the gospel in our present ecosystem is what we need.
I plan to share more after we hear about the details of the ECO tomorrow.
