Reflections from the April 25 Presbytery meeting

I heard repeated several times again this weekend how wonderful it is to be part of our presbytery. For some it is a comparative analysis relative to experiences elsewhere. For some it is simply an expression of what they sense when they come for the first time. I have only ever been a member of this presbytery. Though some considerable experience at the General Assembly level and attending seminary in another part of our country listening to colleagues inclines me toward much gratitude for our life together, as well.

As I reflect on this grace filled experience we share, it seems to me it has much to do with some simple things. Perhaps, most of all listening to one another and valuing each other for the perspectives and life experiences each has to offer. This past Saturday we listened to youth and celebrated their experiences in service. We listened to echoes of a long ministry. We listened to candidates for ministry and affirmed, challenged, conversed with them about their journeys … and ours. We listened to a devoted member with experience in at least three different congregations of our presbytery share essentially how he has listened over the years and how that shapes the way he lives what he believes. We listened to joys and concerns and progress around policies and priorities. And of course, more than whatever words said however beautifully or not and whatever the decisions made, what makes the difference in any of these instances is ultimately the people valued and relationships cultivated through them.

You know, of course, it is not that we agree on everything or ever should expect to. It is not that we avoided difficult issues in the past that have proven contentious and divisive. It is not that no one has ever been wounded among us.

It is, I sense, an authentic presence of the Spirit alive and active among us … in good Presbyterian fashion. Which means – as members in Marshall described it again yesterday – a certain combination of passionate search for truth, intelligent ways to live into it, and compassionate collaborative respect toward others. In fact, without really knowing it, one member essentially quoted that bit from our Book of Order about truth being “in order to goodness created … the inseparable connection between faith and practice, truth and duty … [and] we also believe there are truths and forms with respect to which [people] of good characters and principles may differ. And in all these we think it the duty both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual forbearance toward each other.” (Maybe that stuff really is relevant!!)

I think it must have something to do with all of us feeling claimed by Christ – with the sense of loving security and responsibility that entails when we gather … and whatever tempered claims we may make as we work. And just maybe it has something to do with a deep sense of call that echoes in my mind and heart through the ancient words of God’s Spirit: “I therefore … beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

It is a privilege to be part of this covenant community. It is a pleasure to share our witness of goodness to society so desperately needed. I look forward to the all the occasions of our clear, convicted speaking and bold action to come. Before, in, through and beyond it all, I look forward to listening … and pray you will, too. Just maybe we’ll hear Jesus’ voice. Thanks be to God!

Leadership Team Retreat 1/10

This posting is the first of what I intend to be periodic glimpses at life together in our presbytery through the moderator’s experience. Last Thursday, Jan 21, Leadership Team met at First Pres Lansing for a retreat. We reflected on Phyllis Tickle’s book the Great Emergence before continuing discernment of our priorities shared at previous meetings this past year.

Tickle chronicles periods of great change our Christian church in the sixth and eleventh centuries, then the Great Reformation (16th c.). And we’re living through another similar period of change that we feel in our own lives and congregations. Or at least that was one question we discussed – how do we see these stresses and dramatic shifts in our sense of community and common story, in our spirituality, morality and the way we embody faith everyday? Tickle says that amid all these realities are questions of authority. It’s not so much a question of power politics, though polity is affected. It’s more about how people are empowered to live faithfully – How do we make sense of God in our world? How do we sense the Spirit guiding us to live in Christ’s presence and loving purposes? How do we tell our story? In our Reformed heritage, we’ve found that authority in the Bible – sola scriptura. And that authority has been buttressed with clear understandings and experiences of what it means to be Presbyterian, among other Christian expressions of faithfulness. Enter … all the developmental changes and challenges in our world over recent decades; coupled with cross-fertilization among denominations. And friends, now we see, we feel, we lament, we excitedly search for direction amid the break-down of prior assumptions, boundaries and even the assumed authority itself.

At this point other leaders of presbytery joined us for our discernment. All other leaders of ministry teams, committees, etc. were invited and many were able to make it. We discussed how the proposed priorities that arose out of previous presbytery meetings really connect with work of the various groups. It was informative to hear about others’ work. Our horizons were broadened beyond what can seem the limited scope of our perspective and experience. We told stories and shared questions. It was inspiring to envision how we can collaborate around common efforts. We broke into smaller groups again to identify one or two strategies for addressing each goal in the next couple of years. The priorities, goals and strategies identified are not necessarily intended to take the place of other work being done. We spoke about how much other important work continues all the time. Among those gathered for our retreat, there seemed great openness to how the Spirit will move us; and trust that our goals will enhance and clarify other efforts. Leaders of the Task Force who have been guiding this discernment process will present these goals and strategies at our next presbytery meeting.

Oh, and we shared a great meal together along with the hospitality of other snacks and drinks provided by members of First Presbyterian Lansing!

In the end, Tickle suggests, authority in the emergent church lies in some combination of scripture and the community. And I was struck by how our retreat exemplified what Tickle observes happens under that authority. The Church, she says, is not so much a thing as it is a network – a bit like the Internet or the World Wide Web – “a self-organizing system of relations [between various groups that] themselves form subsets of relations within their smaller networks, etc., etc. in interlacing levels of complexity.” The operating assumption of this dynamic structure is that no one person or group holds the entire truth (hmmm, seems pretty Presbyterian!). Each is a working part that is sustainable as long as the whole interconnection remains intact. “The duty, the challenge, the joy and excitement of the Church and for the Christians who compose her, then,” Tickle concludes, “is in discovering what it means to believe that the kingdom of God is within one and in understanding that one is thereby a pulsating, vibrating bit in a much grander network. … It is how the message runs back and forth, over and about, the hubs of the network that [authority and leadership] is tried and amended and tempered into wisdom and right action for effecting the Father’s will.” (Tickle. The Great Emergence. 2008. especially pp 150-153.)

Our message is the gospel of God’s love in Jesus Christ. Our authority will be in how people sense and feel inspired by that love amid the network of our congregations and presbytery. So may it be.