There is no more important work in these days of divisiveness and conflict, than for pastors and presbyteries to be clear about what we believe and confess as a Reformed Communion within the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. (We can also be grateful for similar projects at some of our seminaries: the Institute for Reformed Theology at Union-PSCE, the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton, and the Campbell Scholars Program at Columbia.)
I appreciate Charles Wiley’s presentation, and his claim that better public relations will get us nowhere, but that “speaking the truth in love just might.” He delineates the changes that have taken place in the past 50 years since Eugene Carson Blake had President Eisenhower’s ear, to the present diminished role of the PC(USA) stated clerk in the life of this nation. Such an assertion of course raises the question of the Washington Office, which I wish had the impact it did even three decades ago. Now it is a lightening rod for the right, and far too predictable for most everyone else. Does anyone besides The Layman pay attention to the issues on which the Washington Office speaks? Please hear that as a genuine, not hostile, question.
Wiley also points out that while we are a wealthy and prominent church, we have lost authority and influence in the culture and in the nation. This is no surprise to readers of The Outlook. He claims that we need to pay attention to our emerging identity, to be seen in the backdrop of “the new Christendom” rather than in our past. What this reveals is that our most serious differences are actually identity driven, and not in fact about the “presenting symptoms” of ordination, worship styles and salvation.
There is a poignant comment in the article about the new Presbyterian ecumenicity. It is framed by the call for a clear identity for a Presbyterian Church that is “really church” and really significant, not based in a weak voluntary association that makes us one choice in a crowded market. That new Presbyterian ecumenicity is symbolized many Presbyterians “jumping for joy” when their adult children go to church — to any church — whether it’s Presbyterian or not. Surely we can do better than that. It reminds me of what I heard Dean Hoge say 15 years ago. Apart from the Jews, Presbyterians are the best-educated religious group in the United States. But research shows that we lose more of our children to other denominations and to no denomination than does any other religious body. As much as anything that accounts for the statistical decline of the PC(USA) since the 1960s. Such research cries out for a multitude of “Re-Forming Ministry” projects so that the life of the church is nourished and challenged at every level.
As I write this editorial, the nation is about to gather for worship — and invite the world to a liturgy at the National Cathedral in Washington for President Reagan’s funeral. What an ironic counterpoint to this discussion. It demonstrates as nothing else could the long way we have come from Blake’s picture on Time and Newsweek to the sight of a Presbyterian minister saying a prayer at the Reagan Library before the removal of the casket to the Rotunda of the Capitol. It calls attention to the fact that we are still “there” in the national spotlight, not now as prophet — but as priest — to the powerful. And it makes the call for a genuine identity — grounded in our confession of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church even more urgent. We belong not to any one nation, but to that peculiar community elected by God from every nation, who bears witness to the truth of Jesus Christ.
Posted June 25, 2004 
