She spoke, for example, of growth — saying she was thrilled to find congregations in many places that are growing in number and diversity and spiritual depth and generous giving to mission.
Among them is Collegiate church in Ames, Iowa, which is across the street from Iowa State University but five years ago drew only handful of students to worship, Andrews said. A few weeks ago, when she visited, 200 college students came to a Sunday morning worship service that’s been shaped with young people in mind, where one finds “praise music and blue jeans along with great preaching,” where a new generation of Presbyterians is being nurtured.
Congregations that want to grow have some common denominators, Andrews said. They understand their context, what makes their community of faith unique, and they share what makes them special with others. And “they have made a decision to grow, they wanted to grow,” she said. Too often, “it’s more comfortable to stay just the way we are with the people that we know.”
Andrews talked of much else — of how a big percentage of disabled people don’t go to church, of how gays and lesbians often don’t feel welcome in the pews, of how many young people don’t feel that churches are speaking to them.
She said she found small churches whose pastors love serving small churches, and where the people think that being small is an advantage and not a liability. She found great creativity in leadership in small churches — commissioned lay pastors and others have stepped up to fill the need.
But Andrews said the denomination also needs to figure out what to do about the low salaries being offered to ministers in small towns and rural areas. Pastors are burning out too often and don’t feel connected to the presbytery or the denomination. Too many churches aren’t aware of and don’t take advantage of many of the resources the denomination offers. “We are spending a lot of time and money developing good stuff that’s not hitting where it needs to hit,” Andrews said.
Andrews praised the PC(USA)’s national staff, saying for the most part “they love Jesus and they love Scripture and they love the church” and “are not just bureaucrats in offices.”
She also spoke of the need for what she called a “liquid” church — with clear standards and accountability, but flexible. Presbyterians love a solid feeling, with understandable rules and traditions and hymns they know. But the church needs to be multicultural, open to new ideas and new ways of doing things — as Clifton Kirkpatrick, the PC(USA)’s stated clerk, told the council, the growth and fire of Christianity today is in the southern hemisphere, in Africa and Latin America, where the worship looks and feels much different than it does here. When she looks at Presbyterians, Andrews said, she sees a denomination that’s both healthy and conflicted, which gives her great hope. And “that fluid liquid spirit,” she said, “is indeed the grace of God.”
Andrews also made a suggestion for change: have congregations pair up, one liberal and one conservative, to work on a mission project together for a year. “They are not allowed to talk theology, they are not allowed to talk sexual ethics,” but only about their faith and of the work they are trying to do. The Presbyterian church is filled with tremendous stories of faith, Andrews said; the stories are fabulous, but the people don’t tell them nearly enough.
