“Oh Lord, fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff and nudge me when I’ve said enough.”

I realize that I’ve said quite a bit over the past few weeks about the Fellowship of Presbyterians, the Evangelical Covenant Order and others.  I don’t know how worthwhile my thoughts have been and when they haven’t been, I pray for forgiveness.  Yesterday I had the chance to share my observations with pastors and elders of Boise Presbytery.  There was something freeing about that opportunity; maybe it was God’s nudge that I’ve said enough (for now).  So here’s my thought on this new day…

I admit it…I’ve been consumed by frustration over something I cannot control. I shared in a public forum my angst over what I believe to be a wrong move by the Fellowship/ECO group. Again I am not in control.

The issue of control lies at the heart of much of what we do or what happens. Original sin is about disobedience and control. Humanity seeks to control humanity; humanity seeks to control God. Maybe every reform movement is an attempt to challenge control, to exert control or to take control.

As I continue to reflect on my participation and time at the Orlando meeting I recognize how I’ve allowed something that I cannot control to “control” me. Now it is a new day.

It is a new day therefore I must acknowledge that it is God who is in control. I must also remember that God has called me and gifted me to serve Christ in ministries to the very best of my ability. I must remember that the Church is inspired by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ for the salvation of humankind.

This is a new day. I cannot allow myself to be consumed by anger, resentment or jealousy toward others who seek to be faithful to the call and gifts that God has given them.  Therefore I will be engaged when and where God can use me to build up God’s Kingdom.

This is a new day.  May God give me worthwhile things to share…and Lord let me feel the nudge when its time to be quiet.

(NOTE: My grandmother’s birthday was yesterday.  She died far too young from cancer, but her faith has been among the most significant and influencing part of my life and faith journey.  I am certain that the nudge I felt yesterday was the brush of her angel wing.)

I invite you to read my blog entry at http://reyes-chow.com/2012/01/guest-blogger-ed-dunn-hey-whatcha-reading-in-your-a-l-t/

I’ll be eagerly waiting for you to share your favorite books.

I will truly miss the greater diversity the PCUSA has with the significant mixture of Evangelical and liberal congregations. We will be far less a denomination with the silence of their voices, with the challenges they bring to our decisions, with their yearning for a Christ-centered ministry.

Early in the meeting at Orlando, Fellowship leaders asked this question: What would your community lose if your church went away?  For an excellent answer, see above.

I’m also right there with Bruce Reyes-Chow who asks,

What will prevent ECO from becoming just another Presbyterian denomination burdened by structure and organization?

Where does relationality end and regulation begin when it comes to polity and standards?

I was deeply saddened by the applause that followed the official announcement of the ECO.  Were conditions in the PCUSA so dire that when an acceptable escape route was offered the response was to cheer?  And no one offered a prayer in the moment…

I am concerned for the future of the PCUSA and the FOP/ECO.  I am grateful that the leadership of the Fellowship have included a more stringent plan for accountability among churches and pastors.  I look forward to seeing how a narrative annual report will be utilized alongside the numerically driven annual statistical report.  However it isn’t annual statistical reports that are causing the decline in the local congregation.  The report is merely a marker for how well our churches are doing their jobs.

I argue with the assumption that all of our problems have arisen with denominational headquarters or even with the local presbytery office.  The decline of the PCUSA is more easily traced to the failure of the local congregation to take evangelism seriously.  The decisions of a General Assembly are not binding upon the denomination until the people from the local congregations have voted.  The inability of church officers to articulate a Reformed faith is not because a General Assembly moderator or the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly failing to teach it.

Based on the speeches I heard and the conversations I was a part of, the failings of the PCUSA begin at the congregational level.

Here’s are 9 values the Fellowship/ECO outlines for the relationship they are establishing:

• Jesus-shaped Identity – “the key is making disciples rather than orthodox believers.”
• Biblical Integrity – “A faith that is not just taught but shapes the life of your community.”
• Thoughtful Theology – “not papers for intellectuals but rearing followers who are able to reflect and apply their faith to their lives.”
• Accountable Community – “caring environments that allows integral faith to emerge.”
• Egalitarian Ministry – women and minorities in leadership.
• Missional Centrality – “the whole of the gospel to the whole of the world; what would you lose if your church went away?”
• Center-focused Spirituality – “calling people to the core of Christianity, not fixating on the boundaries ― we are NOT truth cops.”
• Leadership Velocity – “growing and developing leaders who are culture-changing, risk-taking innovators.”
• Kingdom Vitality – “congregational life is not about size, but trajectory.”

What the Fellowship/ECO identifies are critical values that should already be in place and practice in the PCUSA.  What they lift up for the church is exactly what the PCUSA has valued for the more than 300 years it has existed in the United States.

I am glad that I was there.  I left Orlando with a resolve that new things must happen but not as the Fellowship/ECO groups propose.  It is time to get to work within the structures of the PCUSA.

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.

Will the Covenanting Conference in Orlando divide the PCUSA?

If we are truthful about this question, the answer is a resounding “No” because it appears that we were divided long before January 2012.

Leslie Scanlon, the Outlook’s national reporter has written an article suggesting that even if a New Reformed Body is established, it is not very likely that many churches will immediately join.  Instead as Scanlon shares, this meeting will be about individuals covenanting with one another.  It is not about congregations, rather this meeting is focused on individuals joining in the covenant.

Paul Detterman, interviewed for the article, is quoted, “Regardless of affiliation, we are trying to raise up a different type of disciple.  Somebody who is willing to say, ‘I’m going to take my faith so seriously…I’m going to live differently’ as a result.  We are covenanting with God to live differently.”

I applaud this idea.  I long to hear how it will be presented and to hear the ideas flowing from leadership and participants alike about the ways Presbyterians can covenant with God to revitalize our denomination.

If we keep our focus on this idea, maybe Jack won’t sell any bulletin inserts that talk about dividing the Presbyterian Church. Instead he will have to rewrite them to talk about how Orlando united the long divided Presbyterian Church.

Quite honestly my feelings today are that this meeting seems to be based on the song “Onward Christian Soldiers” and not “Blest Be the Tie that Binds.”  I’m trying to shake the anxiety that is building within me.  I cannot believe that the circumstances we face are what Jesus meant when he said that those who follow me must be willing to take up their cross. Isn’t there something about going and being reconciled to one’s brothers/sisters if there is a concern or  if you have an issue with them?

I am worried that the materials already presented by the Fellowship have entrenched people on both sides.  There will be little covenant talk and more contract speech: less dialogue between persons with differing opinions and more impassioned and stirring speeches suggesting the ways that “we are right and they are wrong.”

It’s Monday.  I leave for Orlando later this week.  I pray that God will open hearts and minds that this week’s conference will truly be about covenanting.  I seek your prayers that God will keep my heart and mind open to hear and share with others.

More later…

While the news service titles the article as an urging to congregations to rethink leaving the denomination, I think it is more important that we read the letter and watch the video as testimony and evidence of the hope for the Presbyterian Church.  I encourage you to read what they share regardless of your position – to stay or to leave.

I have hope for the Presbyterian Church.  I believe that God has more for us to be and to do.  I see the hope for our denomination as I read and get to know the young leaders who are hearing and responding to God’s call to ministry and leadership.

The sharing of this letter and video cannot come at a more critical time.  Next week’s meeting, called a Covenanting Conference, may feel like a distancing event or as the first step in a contract negotiation.  It is my prayer the Holy Spirit will work at uniting us and at giving us hope for the church who serves Jesus Christ.

I have hope for the church.  I have hope that faithful Christians can experience how God desires that we all be one and begin working on how to keep us together despite our differences.

Effective ministry involves being present in the lives of those pastors serve.  Healthy ministry knows the places and times to engage in pastoral care and the times to refrain from pastoral care. Which leads me to consider the dilemma that social media creates for pastors face these days.

Over the past decade the term social networking or social media has come to describe interaction between people through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn.  In fact, a new term has been coined that talks about the impact these networks have on us  - “socialnomics”

The dilemma pastors face is what to do with “friends” on social networks.

The first part of this dilemma concerns who to friend while one is a pastor to a congregation and what to post or share when members of a congregation are your Facebook friends.  A commonsense rule to consider is, “Would you want your grandmother to read or see what you post?”  which is a somewhat naive guideline.  A recent blogpost by Bruce Reyes-Chow on the topic of what pastors post was insightful as I considered the opinions of younger persons in ministry.  They are less inhibited about posting and less concerned about its impact.  I am still very uncertain about their position.

A second part to this pastoral dilemma is what to do about “friends” after a pastor leaves a congregation.  Is it appropriate to remain in a relationship with church members after the pastor has departed?  Opinions vary…in a recent on-line discussion by middle governing body leaders several participants indicated that a pastor should un-friend everyone in their former congregation.  Other participants were less certain that cutting off communication entirely would be helpful. Pastors too, have mixed feelings about the topic and therein is the dilemma.

It is very clear that when a pastor leaves her/his position with a congregation, the pastor shall make it clear that the pastoral relationship has ended.  Members are to refrain from contacting the former pastor to discuss church matters and if they do, the former pastor should gently but firmly remind them that it is a matter they cannot discuss any longer.

So what should a pastor do about members of the a former congregation with whom they are Facebook friends?  Clearly the same rule should apply…no church business!  What about other matters?  Use your best judgment?  Use the grandmother rule?  That is the pastoral dilemma we face, for if pastors are to be models for healthy Christian relationships we will most certainly find ourselves in times where we must remain silent.

What is your opinion on this subject?  I’m looking forward to your thoughts.

Epiphany should be considered as more than a date in Biblical or liturgical history. Epiphany is celebrated every time…in each moment where individuals, committees, congregations and denominations…the Church…glimpses how God is at work among us and in the world.

Epiphany is the ‘ah-hah’ moments in faith and life. It comes to us in surprising ways. We experience Epiphany through a child’s voice or in the silence of the forest. We share an Epiphany in the awkward, silent presence as we sit alongside a grieving person or in the words we pray alongside a young person who is leaving home for college. We can celebrate Epiphany while enjoying the taste of pizza with Jr. High students or traditional church-casserole or Jello salad at a church supper.

Here are some of my insights into Epiphany or ‘ah-hah’ God moments:

• Epiphany, or ‘ah-hah’-God moments cannot be planned or scheduled on a calendar, they come to us in unannounced times and in surprising ways and through ordinary circumstances.
• Epiphany or ‘ah-hah’ God moments can be anticipated.  It’s always important to ask ourselves “What is God saying to us?”  Remember, the Magi were watching the horizon as the star appeared.  They had already purchased the gifts they presented to the new born King.  They were prepared, only they didn’t know exactly what they were prepared for.
• Epiphany or ‘ah-hah’ God moments should never be dismissed as unimportant or trivial. Ignoring them is perilous to our calling and the church’s mission.
• Epiphany or ‘ah-hah’ God moments are not always clarifying; they do not always provide the answer.  The Magi went to the palace looking for a new born King.  Imagine their bewilderment when they discovered that the baby they sought was found in a simple, common house.

As I ponder the start of the new year, I find myself thinking about where God will provide our presbytery with an “ah-hah” moment.  The past year was filled with many good things but also included sadness and departures.  I suspect that many in our presbytery long for an Epiphany moment. What I pray is that we will not attempt to pre-determine and pre-interpret what or when or how that moment will occur.

I ask that you join with me in watching and waiting for Epiphany.  May we find ourselves surprised and overjoyed in the ‘ah-hah’ of God.

therefore, Dear Reader, enter here with caution!

I’ve been reading theology and polity documents from the Fellowship of Presbyterians group. Quite frankly, I’ve been trying to make sense of it all before I go to Orlando. Here are my initial observations:

My first thought: When did all other options coming out of the Minneapolis meeting disappear? It certainly appears that other options are no longer viable to the leadership of the Fellowship of Presbyterians. These documents suggest that they’ve gone straight to the formation of a New Reformed Body. Even a follow-up message from one the groups leaders indicates disappointment that one of the original congregations has moved to the EPC rather than wait for the creation of this NRB. Is this a case of what you sow, you will reap or getting a taste of one’s own medicine? Leaders of the Fellowship group weren’t willing to give the new PCUSA standards a chance to mature or to be tested.  It seems ironic that one of the Fellowship’s key leaders/churches wouldn’t wait to give the NRB a chance.

My second thought: I also find it ironic that a group clearly intent on disrupting the “peace, unity and purity” of the Presbyterian Church, will now require a vow to maintain the peace, unity and purity of the NRB. Doesn’t this sound odd?  If an officer isn’t willing to remain faithful to the vows of one denomination, what is the likelihood of maintaining peace, unity and purity in another body when other issues arise?

Also, if fidelity in marriage and/or chastity in singleness is such a major issue, or an essential of faith, why isn’t there such a vow included among the ordination questions of the NRB? My guess is that there’s concern over the subject of divorce, and we’d surely not want to exclude divorced persons from leadership in the church, right?

A third thought: The proposed NRB  is described as being more horizontal in structure but will never work. It sounds pretty good on paper but in practice how will it work? There are vast disparities in resources of the smallest and largest congregations. Which part of this horizontal structure will help keep a checks and balance that protects every congregation?  Horizontal structures are ideal for governance: it guarantees equal representation for all.  But is it fair in every circumstance?  Not necessarily.

I am concerned that what will evolve is a structure akin to one in another mainline denomination where a healthcare plan for clergy was implemented. The plan is quite horizontal in nature and required each congregation to pay the same amount in healthcare premiums. The downside was that the premium for clergy was the same…with the smallest congregations carrying a heavy financial burden while the largest congregations would reap the benefit of cheap insurance for clergy whose annual salary is oftentimes greater than the operating budgets of these smaller churches.

The poet may have said that “no man is an island” but churches and church leaders often act as if they were an island.  The hierarchical structures of a presbytery, a synod and a General Assembly become reminders that congregations are not entities-unto-themselves.  These Mid Council bodies serve as connective tissue in this connectional church.   A horizontal structure sounds more congregational than connectional.

Am I a skeptic?  Yes.

I realize that a shift has taken place within the Presbyterian Church. As a presbytery leader I am trying to make sense of it all while trying to appear non-anxious and to calm the anxiety of pastors, elders and congregations in our presbytery.  Rushing into something new from a place of anxiety is not the best move.  Acknowledging anxiety while waiting will bring a healthier response or action.

I will be at the Covenanting Conference in Orlando this month.  I plan to listen as a New Reformed Body is unveiled.  I will engage with those who agree and those who may disagree with me on the steps necessary for the future.  I hope to return to Boise better able to engage with our congregations and their leaders as they discern their future.