‘Presbyterian Presence’ Pursued: The Editors look at the results

We did receive funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to study some serious and perplexing questions for Presbyterians. Why are we losing members? How can we have so much energy for critique and so little energy for proclaiming the gospel, mission and new church development? What “working theology” do Presbyterians hold in common? These were just a few of the questions being asked in the church, and we did focus the 1989 Caldwell Lectures at Louisville Seminary on the “predicament.” Those lectures became the first of six volumes we edited, and the title of that volume, The Presbyterian Predicament, may well have set up expectations that this was to be the core message of our study.

But from the start we sought to gather constructive thought for the benefit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and for other parts of the body of Christ. We wanted to chronicle the recent history of Presbyterian culture and its American context so that the Presbyterian Church’s options for the future were as clearly illuminated as the paths that it had taken in the past. Many of the topics studied were natural ones — Presbyterian mission, theology, theological education, evangelism, social witness, worship and programs for women, men and youth.

We also tried to concentrate attention on important areas that had previously attracted little attention. We commissioned economists to study the finances of both the so-called Southern and Northern streams of the church. We asked scholars to study the music of Presbyterians, the devotional literature and publishing arm of the church as well as the roles of each major racial and ethnic minority in the denomination. We received stunningly insightful essays in a number of areas, such as the changes in the nature in the role of Presbyterian church courts, the changing theology in the church, the shifting patterns of leadership and the emerging importance of Presbyterian polity.

As we edited these volumes, trying to publish two per year, we also wrote a seventh volume to summarize our findings. This volume we named The Re-Forming Tradition: Presbyterians and Mainstream Protestantism (WJKP. 1992). In that volume we explored some of the major findings on the ecology of programs and institutions for nurturing a lifelong development in faith that 19th century Presbyterians created, on the need for early discipline in practices of piety, on the fact that so many members join their local congregation but never really “join” or commit to the denomination, on the 20th century debate over evangelism, on an emerging pluralism in theological perspectives and many other issues.

Insights from the Study

Even as we studied, edited, wrote and administered a companion program to bring scores of pastors and educators into the conversation (several had already written essays), we received invitations to share our findings in person with scores of congregations and governing bodies. In sharing time especially with local churches, we found much more than a church stymied by its predicament. In fact, we encountered competent pastors, well-equipped sessions, gifted church school teachers, healthy programs and significant energy for mission and evangelism.

In so-called “higher” governing bodies, we found some skepticism concerning our findings and resistance to research and studies such as ours. Especially in some circles of the General Assembly, we faced hostile questions and responses from some, while others joined quickly in conversation about the learnings provided by our colleagues in the study. In turn, they taught us new angles of vision on the study’s results. On balance, we discovered deep signs of Presbyterian vitality, despite the real and challenging context that the church faces.

We like to think that many of the movements currently affecting the church came as results of our study. For example, Benton Johnson focused early in our study on the demise of Sabbath observance, and subsequently many have begun teaching not only the biblical necessity but also the life-giving properties of keeping the Sabbath. Those in our group of scholars who studied church finances said at the time that few really penetrating works explored local church income and expenditure. Now a number of studies have appeared in print on this topic, such as Mark Chaves’ and Sharon Miller’s Financing American Religion.

Recognizing that the governing bodies of the church have been slipping into the mode of “regulatory agencies” so common in the culture’s governmental bureaucracies has also become something of a watchword among those who lead the church, and a new concern throughout the church to locate and call the best of our number to leadership in congregations and denomination seems to have direct links to the emphasis given this topic in our study. We would like to think our study contributed to all these trajectories in our common history, but we cannot be certain of the human causes of any.

We can affirm that seminaries in general and the schools we serve in particular have been affected. The Louisville Institute at Louisville Seminary grew almost directly from our study and our work to disseminate its findings. This institute supports the study of Protestantism and now American religion more generally, offers sabbaticals for pastors, and dissertation support for those studying Christian practices and other resources for the churches. Louisville Seminary has initiated a program for Bible and Spiritual Formation to strengthen prospective and present pastors in the use of the Bible for personal and spiritual growth and discipleship, and Louisville has created a Center for Congregations and Family Ministries in part because we perceived the importance of the family for faith development of children and parents alike.

At Union-PSCE, the Carl Howie Center for Science, Art and Theology, with its conferences and consultations grew from our seeing and lamenting the recent retreat of Reformed Christianity from its engagement with the arts and sciences. Project Burning Bush, a partnership of Union-PSCE and the Montreat Conference Center, began offering high school students occasions for deep reflection on Christian vocation. And an Institute for Reformed Theology came to focus on the constructive theology of our portion of the Christian family for addressing issues of meaning and cogency in the world and church.

Others of the seminaries have initiated similar programs in areas we explored. In fact, a coalition of Presbyterian seminaries has begun an “Advocates for Ministry Program” to identify gifted college students and to challenge them to consider ministry.

Today we still see the enormous changes in American and church life that test our denomination’s faithfulness and imagination. But we also sense more than ever the gracious providence of God in behalf of the creation and the body of Christ, and we are convinced that in our time as in others, God provides that which is needed to proclaim and embody the good news — to maintain the profound presence of the Christian Church, regardless of the predicaments we may face.

Milton Coalter is professor of bibliography and research and vice president for library and information technology, Louisville Seminary; John M. Mulder is president and professor of historical theology, Louisville Seminary; and Louis B. Weeks is president and professor of historical theology, Union-PSCE.